Mastodon, the decentralized microblogging social network that rivals Twitter, has turned down more than five investment offers from U.S. venture capital firms in recent months in order to maintain its commitment to remain a non-profit platform.
Eugen Rochko, the German software developer who founded Mastodon in 2016, has acknowledged to ‘Financial Times’ that he had received offers from US-based investors to inject «hundreds of thousands of dollars» into backing the product following its rapid growth in the face of an influx of users from Twitter following Elon Musk’s purchase of the social network.
However, Rochko has defended that maintaining the network’s non-profit status was «untouchable,» adding that Mastodon’s independence and choice of moderation styles on its servers were part of its appeal.
«Mastodon won’t become everything you hate about Twitter,» Rochko has indicated. «The fact that it can be sold to a controversial billionaire, the fact that it can be shut down, go out of business, etc. It’s the difference in paradigms [between the platforms],» he has apostrophized.
Rochko is Mastodon’s sole shareholder and, according to his 2021 annual report, allocated himself a remuneration of €2,400 per month last year, a figure he explained has since increased by €500.
Mastodon will thus continue to rely on donations to fund the platform. The site has more than 8,500 donors on Patreon.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
