Sony reinforces commitment to Soneium with additional funding one year post-launch
Following Soneium's mainnet launch anniversary, Sony has committed an additional $13 million to its collaboration with Startale, demonstrating a sustained commitment to blockchain infrastructure development.
Approximately one year following the mainnet deployment of the Soneium blockchain network, Sony Group Corp. has extended its financial commitment to Startale Group, further solidifying its engagement with the blockchain platform.
Startale revealed in a Thursday statement provided to Cointelegraph that it received a supplementary $13 million capital injection from the Sony Innovation Fund. This funding decision followed Soneium's transition from its testnet phase into full production deployment, providing Sony with the opportunity to evaluate the network's capabilities under actual operating circumstances.
According to information available through Soneium's publicly accessible block explorer, the blockchain platform has handled approximately 524 million transactions from its mainnet debut in January 2025 through the present. During this identical timeframe, Nansen's analytics reveal that Avalanche and Algorand logged 442 million and 383 million transactions, respectively. It should be noted that transaction volume metrics by themselves do not necessarily reflect genuine user engagement or substantive economic throughput.
This latest capital infusion expands Sony's stake following its assessment of the network's operational metrics since going live, while preserving a strategic long-range perspective on its blockchain initiatives.
Investment decision influenced by post-launch performance
According to a Startale representative who spoke with Cointelegraph, the investment determination from Sony was driven by Soneium's operational metrics following its public deployment. These metrics encompass the transaction volume achievement as well as the expansion of wallet addresses to 5.4 million.
This ecosystem growth, combined with the strength of the ongoing collaboration through Sony Block Solutions Labs, reflects the progress that underpins Sony's continued investment.
According to the spokesperson's statement, this additional investment does not modify Sony's involvement in operations or governance matters, and the collaborative framework between the entities continues unchanged.
Additionally, Startale announced that its Startale USD (USDSC) stablecoin has been deployed on Soneium's production network. This digital asset utilizes M0's infrastructure and serves as a native settlement mechanism for both applications and payment systems operating within the network ecosystem.
When asked about specific valuation metrics associated with this subsequent funding round, Startale opted not to share these details, instead characterizing the investment as representing the initial closing of its Series A funding cycle.
From testnet experiment to live infrastructure
The initial announcement of Soneium came in August 2024, when Sony and Startale unveiled the project as an Ethereum layer 2 solution engineered to draw developers from entertainment, gaming and consumer-focused application sectors. On Aug. 23, 2024, this initiative represented Sony's most explicit foray into blockchain infrastructure development.
The project's scope broadened shortly thereafter with the introduction of the Minato public testnet alongside the Soneium Spark developer incubator program. On Aug. 28, 2024, this incubator provided financial resources and technical assistance from Sony's subsidiary companies and Web3 collaborators, indicating an active development approach rather than a detached capital allocation strategy.
The production version of Soneium became operational in January 2025, incorporating non-fungible token (NFT)-powered fan interaction mechanisms connected to Sony's entertainment portfolio. On Jan. 14, 2025, the deployment generated varied responses within the community following the network's decision to limit certain smart contracts due to purported intellectual property (IP) infringement concerns.