Pharos Network, a Layer 1 blockchain focused on real-world tokenized assets, said it raised $44 million in a Series A round led by a mix of traditional financial and crypto investors.
Sponsors include Sumitomo Corporation’s venture arm, SNZ Holding, Chainlink and Flow Traders, along with unnamed financial institutions the firm described as “giants of global finance.” The funding comes as interest grows in bringing assets such as bonds, energy projects and private credit to the blockchain rails.
Pharos says it is building an “asset-native” network designed to handle regulated financial activity at scale. Its system uses parallel processing to support high transaction volumes, with compliance features aimed at institutions that need audit trails and identity checks.
The company targets a market it values at $50 billion. Although far from that figure, the tokenization space has been growing, with data showing that total real-world on-chain assets now stand at $24.3 billion. This represents an increase from $14 billion at the beginning of the year.
Pharos also pointed to activity on its test network, which it said includes millions of users and unique addresses, and a partnership with energy company GCL tied to solar-backed assets. These figures, common in pre-launch networks, are often incentive-driven and difficult to independently verify.
The raise follows a previous seed round in which the company raised $8 million. That round was co-led by Lightspeed Faction and Hack VC. It also comes after a recent investment from GCL New Energy (0451) that valued the company at close to $1 billion.
Its mainnet is expected to debut in the near future.
