Aligned Layer has successfully raised $2.6 million in a funding round led by Lemniscap, a VC firm specializing in emerging crypto assets and early-stage blockchain startups. The round also won investment from Paper Ventures, Bankless Ventures and industry angels. The raise marks a significant milestone in Aligned Layer’s mission to accelerate Ethereum’s roadmap by making Ethereum a better settlement layer for validity and ZK proofs.
Aligned Layer is at the forefront of developing a verification layer on top of Eigen Layer, the decentralized protocol that lets users restake ETH for potentially higher rewards. The project aims to transform Ethereum into a better, faster and cheaper settlement layer by offering a cost-effective validity proof and ZK proof verification platform, leveraging the security of Ethereum validators without the EVM limitations.
“We are thrilled to have the support of Lemniscap, Bankless Ventures and Paper Ventures as we work to make Ethereum the best settlement layer for proof verification,” said RJ, one of the Founders of Aligned Layer. “Our technology is not just an incremental improvement, it’s a major leap forward in making Zero Knowledge proofs and Validity proofs more accessible and practical for the entire blockchain ecosystem.”
Aligned Layer’s approach is unique in its ability to enable cost-effective and fast verification of any ZK proof. This will allow developers to build new trustless and scalable applications such as Bridges, Rollups, ZKML and on-chain gaming. It aims to become a pivotal player in supporting ZK technology development and research. The team, comprising experienced cryptographers and distributed services experts, is backed by several influential advisors from relevant industry projects.
Oliver Blakey, Co-Founder of Paper Ventures, expressed enthusiasm for the project: “Aligned Layer represents the kind of innovative and transformative technology that we at Paper Ventures are always keen to support. Their talented team’s work in enhancing Ethereum’s efficiency and broadening the applications of ZK proofs has the potential to surpass traditional blockchain computation methods.”
Aligned Layer’s already in testnet with a Proof of Concept with Cosmos SDK. Its immediate goal is testnet as an AVS in the next couple of weeks. The team is aiming to launch mainnet by the end of Q2 to accelerate the roadmap of Ethereum. The funding will play a vital role in achieving these objectives and solidifying Aligned Layer’s position as a leader in the field.
About Aligned Layer
Aligned Layer is a cutting-edge verification layer for Zero Knowledge proofs using Eigen Layer. Its mission is to accelerate Ethereum’s roadmap making it the fastest and most cost-effective settlement layer for validity and ZK proof verification.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/alignedlayer
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Telegram: https://t.me/aligned_layer
