Salsa, a web3-native messaging platform that helps users discover and connect with relevant people and brands, released its mobile app into public beta, following a $2 million pre-seed raise.

The new Salsa mobile application helps web3 users form meaningful connections by using social proof from on-chain data to add context to wallet-native messaging. While web3 users create valuable data on-chain, they currently communicate on web2 platforms like Telegram and Discord that don’t natively understand the data. This results in a fragmented user experience and impersonation scams.

“Salsa is a mobile app using on-chain data to add social context to wallet-native messaging.”

Salsa’s wallet-based login verifies on-chain ownership and highlights what users share in common. Combining web3 data and messaging is not only valuable for individuals looking to elevate their networking but it’s essential for brands to deeply engage their audience. NFTs are the CRM of the future and Salsa ensures it leads to connection, not just insights.

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Salsa is excited to launch its public beta with POAP, the most popular web3 protocol for minting digital collectibles associated to life experiences. POAP provides rich insights into a user’s interests in web3 and is used by brands like Adidas, Ebay, Goldman Sachs, and Vogue for minting digital collectibles that represent attendance at an event, connecting with other individuals, and giving proof of contribution. Salsa makes it easy to create and claim POAPs natively within the Salsa app and has also launched a direct integration with the POAP mobile app.

“Since POAP was conceived in 2018, we dreamt about a communications system that abides by the core principles of web3: trustlessness, credible neutrality, self-sovereignty and immutability. We look forward to build the paradigm of peer-to-peer chat for the next generation with the Salsa team” says Patricio Worthalter, founder of POAP and investor in Salsa.

“Salsa focuses on non-financial assets that turn Ethereum addresses into people to meet,” says Helena Gagern, cofounder and CEO of Salsa. “Our mission is to show web3 users the human side of web3, that isn’t focused on financial speculation.”

Founded in June 2022 by Grace Wang and Helena Gagern, Salsa has raised a $2m pre-seed co-led by IDEO CoLab VC and Inflection.xyz, with backing from Superscrypt and angels including Nader Al-Naji, Gmoney, Liam Horne, Dan Romero, Balaji Srinivasan, Henri Stern, Khan Tasinga, Wieland Holfelder and Patricio Worthalter. “The need for a crypto-native communication system has become increasingly apparent in our industry: exchanging value and data on chain and communicating off-chain creates friction, inefficiencies and high cost. We are thrilled to support Grace and Helena, a rare duo of co-founders with complementary technical and market expertise and a remarkable rapport with one another,” says John Zannos, Inflection.xyz

Salsa is changing how web3 users meet and communicate and has launched a mobile app and integration with POAP as the default way for POAP collectors to chat. This first fundraiser will enable Salsa to expand its app to brands already using NFTs and looking for a crypto-native, trustless and easy way to deeply engage their audience.

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