The developers of the Algorand blockchain protocol have raised $4 million in seed funding.

The funding support came from venture capital firms Pillar and Union Square Ventures, the startup behind the protocol announced today.

Algorand constitutes a digital currency and transaction platform, with its underlying protocol co-authored by MIT professor and Turing Award winner Silvio Micali. As previously reported by CoinDesk, the proof-of-stake-based system was on display at the Financial Cryptography and Data Security conference in Malta last year.

Algorand represents the latest effort to build a wholly new blockchain system, and is aimed at tackling some of the perceived governance issues associated with distributed systems. The project plans to use the funds in order to build out its development team and support continued work on the protocol.

"Just as the strength of the Algorand network comes from the diversity of its participants, the strength of the Algorand community comes from the diversity of its contributors," Micali said of the funding. "We are an open community bringing together end users, developers, and researchers in cryptography, economics, and computer science."

While an exact launch date hasn't been set, the developers of Algorand are eyeing that release "within the year," according to statements.

Silvio Micali image via CoinDesk archive