Vancouver-based Web3 startup LayerZero Labs is now valued at $3 billion after closing a $120 million Series B funding round.
LayerZero said 33 investors participated in the financing, including Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto fund, BOND, Christie’s, Circle Ventures, OpenSea Ventures, Samsung Next, and Sequoia Capital.
LayerZero previously had a valuation of $1 billion when it raised $135 million in March 2022. That round saw participation from notable firms in both the FinTech and crypto spaces, such as Dapper Labs, Coinbase Ventures, PayPal Ventures, as well as FTX Ventures, the fund launched by collapsed crypto exchange FTX.
“LayerZero is … creating one unified ecosystem, like the internet, that connects each blockchain’s developers and user community.”
LayerZero closed this latest round as venture capitalists continue to bet on long-term growth for crypto, despite a volatile market. CryptoRank released a report in February about the state of crypto fundraising and found an uptick in funding rounds that took place since the start of 2023. According to CryptoRank’s data, February 2023 alone saw $7.80 billion USD in funding raised across 106 rounds. In comparison, November 2022 saw $791.25 million USD raised across 80 rounds.
Founded in 2021 by Bryan Pellegrino (CEO), Ryan Zarick (CTO) and Caleb Banister, LayerZero provides a messaging protocol that functions as the underlying infrastructure needed for decentralized applications to live across multiple blockchains.
The Vancouver startup claims its platform connects over 30 blockchains, allowing developers to create projects that can exist across several blockchains without the need for an intermediary to facilitate cross-chain interactions.
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Within the first year of its launch, LayerZero claims that its platform facilitated over two million messages being relayed across over 30 chains, secured over $7 billion in total value of assets locked in its protocols, and processed more than $6 billion in transactional volume.
“Before the advent of the internet, computers existed in fragmented and disconnected data centers, much like many blockchains today,” said Zarick. “LayerZero is revolutionizing blockchains by creating one unified ecosystem, like the internet, that connects each blockchain’s developers and user community.”
According to LayerZero, funds from this round will be used to increase its headcount as well as “deepen” its presence in the APAC region.
Featured image courtesy LayerZero Labs.
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