Bluesky says it has 13M+ users, has raised a $15M Series A led by Blockchain Capital, and plans a subscription for features like higher quality video uploads
But Says No to Tokens Kris Holt / Engadget : Bluesky's upcoming premium plan won't give paid users special treatment Matt Novak / Gizmodo : Bluesky Teases Creator Payments While New Sign-Ups Explode After Elon Musk's Destruction of Twitter Threads: Molly White / @molly0xfff : i do think the degree to which bluesky is stressing that they do not use blockchains really underscores how toxic even a faint whiff of blockchain has become to any normal platform Molly White / @molly0xfff : “our lead shares our philosophy that technology should serve the user, not the reverse this is why they focus on blockchains, a technology basically always used at the expense of its users” Mastodon: Johannes Ernst / @j12t@j12t.social : So #Bluesky raised another $15 million from a bunch of venture firms. — Congratulations to @jay.bsky.team and team. Talking anybody into giving you millions of dollars is not an easy thing to do, and I'm sure that in spite of all the user growth, it was not easy for Bluesky either. … Tim Bray / @timbray@cosocial.ca : At the moment I'm committed to the #Fediverse platform and to #CoSocial, or member-owned co-op instance, for my primary online social life. But at the same time I'd like #Bluesky to succeed, because the ATProtocol is technically interesting and having alternatives is good. Having said that, this doesn't make me happy. … Andy / @pixel@desu.social : Ah yes, Bluesky announced that they will pull off a subscription model for higher quality audio and profile customization. — Bluesky Nitro. — https://bsky.social/... @tante@tldr.nettime.org : What's going on over at Bluesky? — Oh they fundraised and got a whole bunch of money from a blockchain investor who has money in basically ever fucked up scam you have heard of. — Great. — https://bsky.social/... Danilo Campos / @danilo@hachyderm.io : Bluesky has raised a $15m series A — This just in time for the weekend, so we'll be treated to endless tirades about the satanic rites of venture capital — and why the One True Way of building a pure and decent social platform is a grumpy dude paid a terrible wage to ignore user feedback … Bryan Newbold / @bnewbold@social.coop : bluesky got more funding, and is working on several sustainable revenue models: subscriptions, domain registration, and payments. — work continues on atproto: tooling for independent Lexicon development; more docs/specs and testing for interop; more complete and documented SDKs — https://bsky.social/... … Rose / @rose.bsky.team : To grow sustainably, we're working on a subscription model for premium features like higher-quality video uploads and profile customizations (think colors and avatar frames), but Bluesky will always be free to use. We believe information and conversation should stay accessible to everyone. Rose / @rose.bsky.team : Bluesky is powered by a 20-person core team, moderators, and support agents. Our biggest costs are team and infrastructure. Subscription revenue helps us improve the app, grow the developer ecosystem, and gives us time to explore business models beyond traditional ads. Jay / @jay.bsky.team : With this raise, I'm excited to welcome @kinjal.bsky.social to the board. She shares our vision for a social media ecosystem that empowers users and supports developer freedom, and it's been a great experience working with her. With her support, we are well positioned to grow. Jay / @jay.bsky.team : Bluesky has grown to 13M users in a year and a half — thank you all for choosing us! We've raised a $15M Series A to support our growth and continue to build an open social network that is designed around you, the user. [embedded post] Grant / @grantjallen.bsky.social : Not another social media subscription 😂 [embedded post] Kyle Orland / @kyleor.land : If anything ruins Bluesky, it's gonna be the need to make money [embedded post] Kelsey Hightower / @kelseyhightower.com : I really want Bluesky to succeed, but I also want to see a healthy ecosystem spring up around the AT Protocol, and that includes Bluesky alternatives. If we want to avoid a repeat of what happened with Twitter then a healthy ecosystem is a requirement. Jaz / @jaz.bsky.social : i think this means i get to make the servers bigger or something? — i swear it was pretty roomy in here just a month or two ago... [embedded post] David Buchanan / @retr0.id : atproto is designed from its core to minimize “value capture”, while maximizing “value creation”. this is the exact opposite of what most VCs look for, and to me that implies that anyone investing in Bluesky genuinely believes in its potential for social good @xeiaso.net : [embedded post] Emily / @emilyliu.me : we had to edit this blog post multiple times because the number in front of “__ million+ users” kept changing over the last week — so thank you all for being here, and we're excited to keep working towards financial sustainability and providing a service that you actively enjoy!! [embedded post] Hailey / @haileyok.com : still pretty amazing to me that when i joined the team we still had invite codes, we didn't have video or dms, and things were still far behind where they are now. in just under a year, look where we are now. — extremely happy and grateful to get to continue this journey with all of you! … @bsky.app : Bluesky now has 13M+ users, the @atproto.com developer ecosystem continues to grow, and we've shipped features like DMs and video! — We're excited to announce that we've raised a $15M Series A to continue growing the community, investing in Trust and Safety, and supporting the dev ecosystem. @pfrazee.com : I had a geocities, then a myspace, then a facebook, then a twitter. I don't mind that companies come & go. In fact, they should. We just need to make sure it isn't painful when they do. That's how we end up propping up bad systems. [embedded post] Justin Oaksford / @justinoaksford.bsky.social : I think it's great that Bluesky has had this huge growth, for the art scene in particular. unsolicited advice: if you are an artist building a platform, use this time to guide people to a blog or newsletter *you* own so that in 5 years when Bluesky sucks, it won't take your entire audience with it! X: @blockchaincap : We led Bluesky's $15M Series A🦋 We're excited to support @bluesky in their mission to build an open foundation for the social internet and give power back to users. [video] Anay / @anay_sim : We're thrilled to announce our investment in @bluesky, a company reimagining social media with 13M users and growing LinkedIn: Amir Shevat : The entire team at Darkmode Ventures are so excited about this! Big congratulations to Jay Graber, Rose Wang and the Bluesky Social team🦋💙 See also Mediagazer