Bluesky Launches New Funding Push to Capitalize on Opportunities

With Meta announcing a loosening of content moderation rulesthat will bring it more in line with X’s “free speech” approach, many users are now once again looking for an alternative platform, to escape the growing power of the big technology providers and the whims of their billionaire owners.

Which could see a new wave for Blueskya decentralized alternative to Twitter, which remains, at least for now, uncorrupted by business interests.

And this week, Bluesky has launched a new funding incentivein order to make the most of its opportunities and continue to expand. And it’s clear there’s a certain level of optimism for the app, with a funding round valuing the platform at a whopping $700 million.

The latest funding round, Bluesky’s third funding boost, will add money to invest in its growing potential. Bluesky picked up $15M Series A Fundraising in October last year, which added $8 million in seed funding which he published in July 2023.

Before that, Bluesky was funded by Twitterand previous CEO Jack Dorsey, who originally launched Bluesky as a decentralized alternative to Twitter.

Conceptually, Bluesky is designed to be a more open and transparent version of what Twitter has become, putting more control in the hands of users and ideally allowing them to choose their own servers, algorithms, etc. These elements are still in development, but with the reformation of Twitter (in X) and now the changes in Meta, Bluesky has become a more viable alternative for many more people, even with these decentralized elements.

The difficulty in selling decentralized social networks is that the vast majority of regular users just want to download the app and log in, with as little setup work as possible. That extra account admin, which gives users more control, is what has held back Mastodon’s growth, as many confusing account options and processes have turned many people away from signing into the app.

You can also see this in the success of Threads, which is directly linked to your Instagram account. The ease of transferring your profile from one app to another was a big plus for the app, and she pointed out that while decentralization and freedom from big tech provide benefits, most people just don’t care.

But perhaps if Bluesky can seize its moment and merge the decentralized elements into a more mainstream, modern approach, it could ultimately provide a better way forward for social apps and free users from tech overlords who will seemingly bend their moral views to serve their own interests.

Although it won’t be easy.

Bluesky now has over 25 million usersalthough this growth has slowed considerably over the past month. And it is still far from the thread (300 million active monthly) and X (570 million), though it doesn’t have anywhere near the financial or labor resources of either app, and Bluesky still relies on funding rounds like these to keep it going.

As such, eventually the Bluesky team will have to explore other sources of revenue. And while the idea of subscriptions to add-onsit is unlikely that this will be enough to remain solvent while it appears to be expanding.

Which probably means they’ll have to turn to ads eventually.

Perhaps Bluesky can find an alternative, in using decentralized servers to reduce costs, for example, or relying on user communities for rules and content management.

But realistically, if Bluesky is going to take advantage of its opportunity, it will probably need advertising support at some point.

But perhaps now is the time for an alternative that is less influenced by external forces.