Element raises $30 million to develop Matrix
The company Element, which makes an open source chat app based on Matrix, has raised $ 30 million to further develop the chat protocol and build out the app. The money will be used to develop decentralized VoIP and video tools, among other things.
With the money goes Element including completing P2P Matrix, developing native decentralized E2EE voip and video conferencing for Matrix and chat app Element, and building out the decentralized abuse reputation system in Matrix. In addition, Element can grow as a company with the money.
The money comes from investors Protocol Labs and Metaplanet, led by Jaan Tallinn, the co-founder of Skype and Kazaa. Matrix will work more closely with Protocol Labs and in particular with IPFS, including in the field of peer-to-peer technologies. Element emphasizes that there are no plans for cryptocurrency integrations in Matrix or Element.
Matrix is a decentralized chat protocol protected by end-to-end encryption. The protocol is managed by a foundation and developed by the start-up Element, which also makes the Element chat app. While many users can self-host a Matrix client, Element is the most common app that uses the protocol.
The chat app is not the only implementation of the protocol, it can also be used for microblogging, VR or ultra-low-bandwidth communication with Internet of Things devices. The protocol is used by, among others, the French and US governments for communication, and by various German government departments.
Over the past six months, Element has seen Matrix usage “explode,” says founder Amandine Le Pape in a blog post. This was partly due to bridges for Slack and Teams, and integration in Telegram and Discord. Element Home is also a popular product among users with a home server. In addition, open source conference Fosdem used the chat app during the first virtual edition of the event. Le Pape thinks that the changes to WhatsApp’s privacy policy have also contributed to the app’s popularity.
If it wants to, the company says, it could already be financially self-sufficient, but it puts a lot of money into Matrix development and hosting. That is why this financing round is very welcome for the start-up. In addition, it enables the foundation and the company to hire more people to further develop the protocol and the app, says Le Pape.
Tweaker Jelv wrote an extensive explanation on Monday about exactly what the Matrix protocol is and what the benefits of this protocol are for secure and decentralized communication. In it he explains, among other things, how the various chat apps work and links to a number of Matrix implementations.