Layer-1 Network Flare Raises $35M From Kenetic, Aves Lair

Layer-1 blockchain Flare has raised $35 million in a private round that included investment from Kenetic, Aves Lair and others, according to a press release.

Dubbed a layer-1 network for data, Flare supports the creation of smart contract protocols and focuses on pricing oracles, which relay asset prices to and from various decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.

Early investors in the project have voluntarily agreed to extend token distribution from 2024 to the first quarter of 2026. A selling limit of 0.5% of daily trade volume has also been imposed to reduce market sell pressure.

“Agreements over liquidity are excellent for a growing ecosystem,” said Flare co-founder Hugo Philion. “At this final anticipated liquidity event, I am very grateful to our early backers for continuing to be Flare’s biggest proponents and codifying a supportive, objective relationship aligned and beneficial to Flare’s growth.”

Flare announced another liquidity measure in October, stating that it would be burning 66 million tokens per month until January 2026, equaling 2% of the token’s total supply. The measure was put in place to “improve ecosystem development and overall health.”

The raise comes off the back of news that Google Cloud joined the network as a validator, a move that saw its native token (FLR) jump by 5% last month.

The token rose by more than 13% on Friday following a blog post by BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes, who said that as decentralized exchanges become the primary venue for price discovery. “on-chain oracles that provide prices for settlement and liquidation will surge in importance – Project in question: Flare.”

FLR increased by a further 3.05% after the announcement of the raise.

UPDATE (Feb. 23, 15:12 UTC): Adds FLR price reaction.