a16z Leads $20M Round for Blockchain Payment Firm Halliday
Halliday, a blockchain firm that employs AI to streamline financial processes, raised $20 million in a Series A round led by venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). The round also had contributions from SV Angel, Credibly Neutral, and Blizzard Fund.
Scaling AI-Powered Blockchain Workflows
Launched on March 18, the investment will accelerate the development of Halliday’s Workflow Protocol. Its software facilitates the creation of financial apps without the need for writing smart contracts using blockchain and AI.
Halliday collaborates with banks and payment services providers, making operations more efficient by removing the step of manual creation of smart contracts.
Overcoming Smart Contract Challenges
“Smart contracts have been the default way how the industry composes applications on-chain for some time now. But writing smart contracts is like doing hardware engineering versus software engineering: it takes time, it’s expensive, and it’s dangerous,” Halliday wrote on X.
Blockchain integration with artificial intelligence also carries compliance and security challenges that Halliday tries to solve with its Workflow Protocol.
Simplifying Blockchain Financial Procedures
The Workflow Protocol simplifies various financial tasks, including:
- Onboarding new layer 1 and layer 2 chains
- Managing repeat payments
- Maximizing yield
- Automating treasury management
- Business-to-business agent workflows
Halliday has since 2023 tested its system, with payment flows integrated by Avalanche, ApeCoin, DeFi Kingdoms, and Story Protocol. The firm also partnered with SKALE Network in May 2024 and ApeChain in June 2024.
a16z’s Ongoing Support
It is not the initial time that a16z has invested in Halliday. Previously, in August 2024, the venture capital firm spearheaded a $6 million seed round for metaverse and blockchain gaming applications.
With the latest funding round, Halliday will further disrupt financial services by making blockchain-based automation accessible to more businesses and institutions.
