Modular blockchain Dymension raises $6.7 million in private token round

Dymension, a modular blockchain that leverages Cosmos’s and Celestia’s technologies, raised $6.7 million in a seed funding round.

Big Brain Holdings and Stratos led the round, with Matchbox DAO, Shalom Meckenzie of DraftKings and others participating, Dymension said Thursday. The funding was secured via a simple agreement for future tokens (SAFT), Dymension co-founder and CEO Yishay Harel told The Block in an interview.

Harel began raising for the round last May and closed it late last year amid widespread crypto collapses. He declined to disclose the valuation.

What is Dymension

Dymension is a modular blockchain platform with built-in roll-ups technology for scalability. That design differs from monolithic blockchains such as Ethereum, which handle all key functions, such as consensus and settlement, on the main chain, and then there are separate Layer 2 networks for such chains.

As for Dymension, it will offer a network of modular blockchains called “RollApps,” or app-specific roll-ups. The idea is that any developer will be able to build and deploy their own RollApp. “Dymension supports RollApps from day one. We don’t need to go through this process of what Ethereum has in terms of roadmap up until 2030,” said Harel.

App-specific rollups are gaining in popularity at the moment. AltLayer is opening up its platform to 100 developers to test its no-code rollup offering, ahead of its mainnet launch. It’s different from Dymension because it offers rollups on Ethereum and EVM-compatible chains rather than on its own platform. Dymension says its RollApps are compatible with the EVM, CosmWasm and other virtual machines.

RollApps will be built with Dymension’s RollApp development kit (RDK), which is based on the Cosmos Software development kit (SDK). Dymension also leverages Celestia as a data availability layer.

Upcoming testnet

With the seed funding, Dymension also announced that it will launch its public testnet on Feb 15. An incentivized testnet will follow in the second quarter and the mainnet in the third quarter of this year, said Harel.

There are currently nine people working for Dymension and Harel plans to expand the team in the near future.

Dymension also plans to raise more funds before the mainnet launch. Harel said the target raise would be around $20 million.

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