Sweatcoin developer Sweat Economy raises $13 million in a round led by Spartan Capital

Sweat Economy, the company behind the wellness app Sweatcoin, has raised $13 million in a round-headed by Spartan Capital.

Electric Capital, OKX Blockdream Ventures, Goodwater Capital, and GSR Capital all joined in the round, which included both equity capital and a private token sale.

Sweatcoin App Pivots into Web3.0 with New $13M Funding

Sweat Economy plans to use the funding to promote the adoption of its native currency SWEAT throughout its ecosystem, including on the Sweatcoin app. Sweatcoin rewards users for their daily walks with off-chain money that can be used for discounts or donated to charity. According to Apptopia data, it claims to have over 100 million users, making it the most downloaded health and fitness app in 2022.

Spartan Capital founding partner Kelvin Koh in a statement,

“Web3 onboarding can be daunting to many as it often involves a steep learning curve. Sweatcoin is providing users with a new way to exercise and earn, all while lowering the entry barrier and reducing the technical know-how.”

Companies like STEPN have faced criticism in the past for using tokenized incentives to promote exercise due to concerns about the viability of the business model.

According to Sweat Economy, Sweatcoin users must opt-in to use its on-chain money, which may be exchanged 1:1 for Sweatcoin. The company claims that nearly 11 million people have downloaded the wallet software while doing so.

The startup will have a token generation event on September 12 to celebrate the launch of the token and the corresponding wallet. The SWEAT coin will be officially introduced at this time on the Near and Ethereum blockchains.