Blockchain start up Starkware valued at $2bn in latest funding round
An Israeli start up that provides scalable blockchain technology for apps has secured $50m (£37m) in a Series C round led by Sequoia Capital.
Starkware aims to solve the scaling issues faced by legacy blockchains in the crypto space by allowing companies to build apps on top of an ultra-fast chain capable of processing a large number of transactions at a low cost. The latest funding round takes Starkware’s value to $2bn and comes just seven months after a $75m Series B round.
“Blockchains today simply can’t handle the volume of transactions required for mass use,” said Eli Ben-Sasson, Co-founder and President at StarkWare. “The math-based technology invented by StarkWare is the invisible hand that increases blockchain’s bandwidth, giving it the capacity to serve everyone.”
“This valuation makes us more confident than ever in our vision. By empowering blockchains to scale globally, people of any economic status will gradually be able to stop entrusting data into the hands of big companies, and control it themselves instead,” Ben-Sasson added.
The company’s blockchain-based computation technology is used by companies including dYdX, Sorare, and Immutable X which in turn delivers our technology to companies including TikTok. Starkware aims to drive down the carbon footprint of existing blockchains and wants to lower transaction fees.
“StarkWare is attacking one of the most important problems in crypto – the computational scalability of the blockchain,” said Mike Vernal, partner at Sequoia. “StarkWare is the clear market leader in terms of zero-knowledge roll-ups, powering over $100bn in transaction volume just last month.”
Until now, StarkWare’s technology has been available only to clients through its scaling engine StarkEx. However, the Series C funding will allow the full deployment of the StarkNet platform, which will allow anyone to build blockchain apps using StarkWare’s technology.
“Congested blockchains and high transaction fees are the biggest impediment to building mass-scale crypto apps for all, to meet the everyday needs of the general population,” said Uri Kolodny, Co-founder and CEO at StarkWare, who hopes the launch of StarkNet will help the blockchain industry overcome key hurdles.
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