Binance Labs and Polychain co-lead ZK startup Polyhedra Network’s $10 million raise

Deals
• February 21, 2023, 9:00AM EST

Web3 infrastructure startup Polyhedra Network raised $10 million in a round co-led by Binance Labs and Polychain Capital.

The strategic round also saw participation from Animoca Brands and Dao5, said the company in the release.

Polyhedra has developed several infrastructure offerings using zero-knowledge (ZK) proof technology, including a ZK bridge (zkBridge) solution to send assets between web2 and web3 systems; a ZK decentralized identity solution (zkDID) and a scalability solution, using a large-scale distributed proof generation network called ParaPlonk, to accelerate ZK rollups.

A ZK proof is a cryptographic technique that confirms whether a statement is true or false without revealing that statement’s contents. 

The startup plans to integrate with more blockchains and make it more accessible to developers with API and SDK tooling. It also intends to refine its ParaPlonk protocol to attract developers seeking efficient and distributed ZK-rollup solutions, the company said in the release.

Polychain’s ZK push

“Polyhedra is pushing boundaries on some of the most innovative ZK infrastructure within web3,” said Luke Pearson, a Polychain Capital partner, in the release. “The well-oiled architecture facilitates cross-chain operations that will interconnect blockchain ecosystems to build the next generation of financial technology.”

Polychain has bet on a number of ZK startups recently including leading the round for ZK chip startup Cysic’s $6 million raise as well leading ZK tech developer Nil Foundation’s $22 million raise and Ethereum scaling startup Scroll’s $30 million raise.

Over the past 6 months, infrastructure projects have accounted for roughly 20% of all seed deals, wrote John Dantoni, a research analyst, in The Block Research’s January funding report.


Breakdown of blockchain venture spend

Breakdown of blockchain venture spend from The Block Research


The funds from the raise will be used for hiring engineering talent as well as research and development, the company said.

Source: https://www.theblock.co/post/212924/binance-labs-and-polychain-co-lead-zk-startup-polyhedra-networks-10-million-raise?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss