Aligned Layer, a startup touted as a “universal verification layer for Ethereum,” confirmed Sunday, April 14, that it raised $2.6 million in seed funding.
Lemniscap, a seven-year-old firm that has backed multiple companies in the crypto blockchain space, led the effort. The firm previously led the $2.4-million funding round for web3 startup Safary in January.
Bankless Ventures and Paper Ventures are also backing Aligned Layer, along with StarkWare, O(1)Labs and Ingonyama CEO Omer Shlomovits.
Aligned Layer announced the capital raise via social media. See below.
Aligned Layer is touted as the first decentralized ZK Proof verification layer for Ethereum. It’s also powered by Eigen Layer — a restaking mechanism that allows ETH stakers to reallocate their staked ETH and Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) to improve security for other protocols.
Aligned Layer goals
The company will put the proceeds of the capital raise toward expanding its operations and accelerating Aligned Layer’s mainnet launch, scheduled for the second quarter of 2024.
As an infrastructure provider, Aligned Layer aims to lower costs and improve speeds for developers that are building applications like L2s, or layer-2 networks.
“Today’s announcement is a testament to our team’s shared dedication to making Ethereum the most cost-effective and efficient platform for ZK verification by using Eigen Layer,” Aligned Layer co-founder Roberto José Catalán said in a prepared statement.
The seed round also included participation from several angel investors, including Sreeram Kannan, Brandon Kase, Daniel Lubarov, DCbuilder, Chainyoda, Weikeng Chen, Sam Benyakoub, Lucas Kozinski and Peter Fittin (SizeChad). See below.
“At Aligned Layer, we firmly believe that developers should be able to use the proof system that best suits their needs, without being constrained by the settlement layer,” Catalán added.
The funds are expected to give the company enough runway to execute near-term goals.
The Aligned Layer funding comes on the heels of a busy week for crypto venture capitalists. New York-based Monad Labs, for example, scored $225 million in funding as part of a round led by Paradigm. Monad is a layer-1 blockchain compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine but can process transactions using the same set of rules faster.
There was also Bitcoin layer-2 network Mezo. The startup raised $21 million in a Pantera-led funding round.
During the first three months of 2024, global investors put $2.5 billion into crypto-related startups, according to PitchBook.
However, investors don’t appear to be warming up to blockchain-related gaming companies. According to data from DappRadar, the sector secured $288 million in funding for the first quarter of 2024. That’s a 57% decrease compared to the previous three-month period.
