Aligned Layer, a startup touted as a “common verification layer for Ethereum,” confirmed Sunday, April 14, that it raised $2.6 million in seed funding.
Lemniscap, a seven-year-old agency that has backed a number of corporations within the crypto blockchain area, led the hassle. The agency beforehand led the $2.4-million funding spherical for web3 startup Safary in January.
Bankless Ventures and Paper Ventures are additionally backing Aligned Layer, together with StarkWare, O(1)Labs and Ingonyama CEO Omer Shlomovits.
Aligned Layer introduced the capital elevate through social media. See under.
Aligned Layer is touted as the primary decentralized ZK Proof verification layer for Ethereum. It’s additionally powered by Eigen Layer — a restaking mechanism that enables ETH stakers to reallocate their staked ETH and Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) to enhance safety for different protocols.
Aligned Layer objectives
The corporate will put the proceeds of the capital elevate towards increasing its operations and accelerating Aligned Layer’s mainnet launch, scheduled for the second quarter of 2024.
As an infrastructure supplier, Aligned Layer goals to decrease prices and enhance speeds for builders which are constructing functions like L2s, or layer-2 networks.
“Immediately’s announcement is a testomony to our workforce’s shared dedication to creating Ethereum essentially the most cost-effective and environment friendly platform for ZK verification through the use of Eigen Layer,” Aligned Layer co-founder Roberto José Catalán said in a ready assertion.
The seed spherical additionally included participation from a number of angel buyers, together with Sreeram Kannan, Brandon Kase, Daniel Lubarov, DCbuilder, Chainyoda, Weikeng Chen, Sam Benyakoub, Lucas Kozinski and Peter Fittin (SizeChad). See under.
“At Aligned Layer, we firmly imagine that builders ought to be capable to use the proof system that most accurately fits their wants, with out being constrained by the settlement layer,” Catalán added.
The funds are anticipated to offer the corporate sufficient runway to execute near-term objectives.
The Aligned Layer funding comes on the heels of a busy week for crypto enterprise capitalists. New York-based Monad Labs, for instance, scored $225 million in funding as a part of a spherical led by Paradigm. Monad is a layer-1 blockchain suitable with the Ethereum Digital Machine however can course of transactions utilizing the identical algorithm sooner.
There was additionally Bitcoin layer-2 community Mezo. The startup raised $21 million in a Pantera-led funding spherical.
Through the first three months of 2024, world buyers put $2.5 billion into crypto-related startups, according to PitchBook.
Nevertheless, buyers don’t look like warming as much as blockchain-related gaming corporations. In line with knowledge from DappRadar, the sector secured $288 million in funding for the primary quarter of 2024. That’s a 57% lower in comparison with the earlier three-month interval.