Halliday, a startup powered by artificial intelligence that aims to automate services across various workflows, has successfully raised $20 million in a funding round spearheaded by venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz.
In a statement released on March 18, Halliday announced that this funding would expedite the development of its Workflow Protocol. This innovative solution will enable developers to create financial applications without needing to write smart contracts, utilizing blockchain and AI technologies.
The Series A funding round, led by the crypto venture capital arm of Silicon Valley’s a16z, also drew investments from SV Angel, Credibly Neutral, and Blizzard Fund.
Halliday’s collaboration with banks and payment service providers is powered by the company’s workflows, which are designed to eliminate the repetitive writing of smart contracts when developers build or deploy programs, a key factor in their expansion.
“Smart contracts have been the standard method for creating on-chain applications. However, developing smart contracts is more akin to hardware engineering than software development: it tends to be slow, costly, and risky,” the startup shared on X.
The integration of AI on-chain represents a significant challenge due to compliance and safety concerns.
Halliday’s Workflow Protocol addresses these difficulties, facilitating the integration of Web3 for financial institutions and other companies.
The startup claims that the Workflow Protocol can automate any flow, including onboarding to new layer 1 and layer 2 chains, managing recurring payments, and optimizing yields. It also streamlines workflows in treasury management and B2B transactions.
Since 2023, Halliday has been testing its workflow system, with its payment solutions already implemented by Avalanche, ApeCoin, DeFi Kingdoms, and Story Protocol. In May 2024, the startup partnered with SKALE Network, followed by a collaboration with ApeChain in June 2024.
A16z had previously taken the lead in Halliday’s $6 million seed round in August 2024, during which Halliday indicated the funds would bolster blockchain gaming and metaverse initiatives.