ICO or initial coin offering is an effort to raise funds for a blockchain project by offering crypto assets to investors.
The goal of an ICO is to generate funds to finance and develop new crypto projects. On the other hand, investors who are willing to take risks get tokens at a discounted price from a project. ICOs are a popular fundraising method for crypto projects in 2017-2019.
However, many projects now prefer the institutional investor route or using launchpads to raise funds.