The development team behind the digibyte cryptocurrency project has received $250,000 in private investment and inked a new strategic partnership with Hong Kong-based web developer Tofugear.

The funds will be used by the digibyte developers as part of a push to upgrade the core functionality of the project’s code and develop new services on top of its infrastructure. The announcement coincides with the launch of two digibyte-focused startups: DigiPay LLC in California and DigiTrade International Limited Hong Kong.

Digibyte’s developers said the Tofugear partnership will provide additional logistical and operational support as the group expands what they call the Digibyte Ecosystem. Central to this goal, the team wrote, is providing payment mechanisms that shift away from legacy solutions and move toward modern, more secure tools like mobile devices.

In its announcement to its community, the digibyte developers said that they plan to build on previous experiments using digital currency, explaining:

“In collaboration with Tofugear Limited’s strategic retail, wholesale and technical development partnerships, the digibyte core protocol is currently being developed into a range of solutions that will revolutionize the consumer’s daily life.”

Digibyte founder and DigiPay president Jared Tate told CoinDesk that through the partnership with Tofugear, the digibyte team now has greater freedom to push next-generation services while still building on the project’s central planks.

The $250,000 raised represents one of the most high-profile altcoin funding announcements to date. Several altcoin projects have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars during initial coin offerings, and last month, micropayments startup Dogetipbot raised nearly $500,000 in new capital.

Expanding efforts

Digibyte, an altcoin founded earlier this year that enables multi-algorithm mining, is hoping to position itself as a next-generation payment mechanism as well as a currency that can catch on with global users.

In its letter, the development team outlined both its past achievements and future ambitions, which includes utilizing digibyte as a means of social expression.

The letter explained:

“Through social media platforms that range from keeping in contact with your friends, writing on topics that are important to you, messaging the world and letting them know your opinions, or simply watching streaming videos online, digital currency will prove to be a means of letting people know what you think, in a way that users can bank on.”

Through DigiPay, the startup venture focused on building out the digibyte ecosystem, the developers hope to push their solutions to a wider business audience.

Tofugear pledges long-term support

A Hong Kong-based web developer, Tofugear brings experience building retail-focused platforms and solutions to the digibyte team’s payments work. According to Tofugear’s website, the company, founded in 2010, works primarily on retail and product-oriented projects.

The team noted in a statement that the partnership will be a long-term one, explaining:

“As an ongoing collaboration, Tofugear and the digibyte team are excited by the prospect of working towards their mutual goal of engaging people with technology that enriches their everyday lives.”

Tofugear added that by combining their efforts, it hopes to produce new solutions using the technology underlying decentralized digital currency.

“At the edge of the digital currency frontier, the digibyte and Tofugear team synergies offer real opportunities where digital currency is primed for entrance,” the Hong Kong-based company said.

Images via Shutterstock, Bitcoin Talk