Stani Kulechov – the founder of Aave Companies – has announced that the network of blockchain entities and ventures that he created has rebranded as Avara.
According to Kulechov, the name change reflects Avara’s new mission to go beyond DeFi by bringing Web3 to “all users globally with different kinds of use cases.”
Before being known as Aave, the organization used to be EthLend but changed its name when its scope outgrew its previous targets.
Much like the prior name, Avara is a Finnish word used colloquially as “to see more than you can see.” The change applies to the family of entities formerly operating as part of Aave. Aave Labs, Aave Protocol, and the AAVE token will each keep their names. The GHO stablecoin will also continue to operate under the same name.
Kulechov shared that a major focus for his group in recent months has been the Lens Protocol, a social network protocol for Web 3.
“We really want to send a signal that we are in a time now with web3 where we’re building that interface on the existing infrastructure where people can actually interact in a way where it’s familiar to them. […] More recently, with Lens Protocol, we’ve been building virtually social, so decentralized social media, that basically any developer can actually build their applications on top.”
Avara has also recently bought Los Feliz Engineering for an undisclosed sum. Los Feliz Engineering is the team behind Family, who designed the developer Library ConnectKit and a self-custodial mobile wallet for Ethereum tokens, among other projects.
Benji Taylor, the former CEO of Family, will now assume a new role as SVP of Product & Design at Avara, spearheading the rebranded firm’s new mission to bring Web3 to all.
However, Kulechov stressed that although Web3 and social expansion will be Avara’s priority for the foreseeable future, the protocol has no plans to abandon the DeFi space and the projects it has founded so far.
“Avara will remain deeply committed to advancing decentralized finance. Notably, we’ve been the driving force behind the latest Aave V3 update and the recent launch of the Aave-native GHO stablecoin. Our dedication to spearheading technological innovations in the DeFi space remains unwavering, and we’re grateful to have the continued support of the Aave community.”
In the meantime, Avara aims to become the go-to protocol for anyone looking to integrate Web3 capabilities into their projects, regardless of its nature.
