World Foundation, the nonprofit behind the World protocol, has raised $52.5 million through a strategic sale of WLD tokens, with all purchased tokens subject to a one-year lockup.

The funding round was led by Pantera Capital and included Bain Capital Crypto, Eightco Holdings, Selini Capital, Susquehanna Crypto, and other investors.

The proceeds will be used to accelerate the adoption of World ID, the project's proof-of-humanity infrastructure, for enterprises, consumers, and AI agents worldwide.

World says demand for Proof of Human is rising as AI-generated content and digital identities become increasingly difficult to distinguish from real users. The protocol has already integrated World ID with platforms including Zoom, DocuSign, Okta, Vercel, and Tinder.

To date, more than 39 million users have joined the network, with 18+ million completing Orb verification and generating over 475 million World ID proofs. Including this raise, the project has secured approximately $492.5 million in total funding.