Aligned Layer, a startup touted as “Ethereum’s universal verification layer,” confirmed on Sunday, April 14 that it has raised $2.6 million in seed funding.
Lemniscap, a seven-year-old company that has supported multiple companies in the crypto blockchain space, led this effort. The company previously led a $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 funding via social media. Please refer to the following.
Aligned Layer is touted as Ethereum’s first decentralized ZK Proof verification layer. We also use Eigen Layer. This is a re-staking mechanism that allows ETH stakers to reallocate their staked ETH and Liquid Staking Tokens (LST) to improve the security of other protocols.
Adjusted layer goal
The company will use the proceeds from the capital raise to expand its business and accelerate the launch of Aligned Layer's mainnet, scheduled for Q2 2024.
As an infrastructure provider, Aligned Layer aims to reduce costs and increase speed for developers building applications such as L2 (Layer 2 networks).
“Today’s announcement is a testament to our teams’ shared dedication to making Ethereum the most cost-effective and efficient platform for ZK verification with Eigen Layer,” said Co-founder of Aligned Layer. said Roberto José Catalán in a prepared statement.
Several angel investors also participated in this seed round, including Sreeram Kannan, Brandon Kase, Daniel Lubarov, DCbuilder, Chainyoda, Weikeng Chen, Sam Benyakoub, Lucas Kozinski, and Peter Fittin (SizeChad). Please refer to the following.
“At Aligned Layer, we strongly believe that developers should be able to use the proof system that best suits their needs, without being constrained by payment layer,” Catalán added.
The funding is expected to give the company enough runway to achieve its short-term goals.
Aligned Layer’s funding comes on the heels of a busy week for crypto venture capitalists. For example, New York-based Monad Labs has secured $225 million in funding as part of a Paradigm-led round. Monad is a layer 1 blockchain that is compatible with the Ethereum virtual machine, but can process transactions faster using the same set of rules.
There was also Bitcoin's layer 2 network Mezo. The startup has raised $21 million in a funding round led by Pantera.
According to PitchBook, global investors poured $2.5 billion into crypto startups in the first three months of 2024.
However, investors do not seem to be enthusiastic about blockchain-related game companies. According to DappRadar data, the sector secured $288 million in funding in the first quarter of 2024. This is a 57% decrease compared to his previous three months.
