The Walrus Foundation, dedicated to advancing the Walrus protocol, has successfully raised $140 million in a private token sale. The funding round was led by Standard Crypto, with participation from notable investors including a16z crypto, Electric Capital, and Franklin Templeton Digital Assets. The funds will be used to expand and maintain the decentralized data storage protocol and to develop applications on the platform. Walrus, a decentralized storage platform built on the Sui network by Mysten Labs, is set to launch its mainnet on March 27. This launch aims to unlock new possibilities for data storage and utilization, targeting applications such as AI datasets, rich media files, websites, and blockchain history. The platform allows for the management of onchain and offchain data files through Move-based smart contracts, ensuring comprehensive data lifecycle support. The $WAL token will be integral to the platform, with allocations of over 60% for the community, 10% for a user airdrop, and 43% designated for future community and ecosystem initiatives. Rebecca Simmonds, Managing Executive of Walrus Foundation, stated that the investment aims to redefine decentralized storage by leveraging Sui's architecture. This approach seeks to make data storage programmable, interactive, and secure, positioning Walrus to drive the adoption of programmable storage across various industries. Adam Goldberg, Managing Director and Co-Founder at Standard Crypto, emphasized that Walrus addresses scalability, flexibility, and security challenges faced by previous onchain storage attempts.