Ethereum co-founder, A16z former GP back SG crypto firm’s $7.2m round

AltLayer, a Singapore-based blockchain firm, has raised US$7.2 million in a seed funding round led by Polychain Capital, Breyer Capital, and Jump Crypto. The round saw participation from Balaji Srinivasan, who previously worked as CTO of Coinbase and general partner of Andreessen Horowitz.

AltLayer founder Yaoqi Jia / Photo credit: Yaoqi Jia

Founded last year, AltLayer helps blockchain app developers set up a disposable layer to withstand surges in traffic, such as during minting events. Those developers can set up a rollup secured by a Layer 1 protocol (such as Ethereum) and dispose of it when the traffic goes back to normal.

The company’s solutions can be used by companies that are developing NFTs, blockchain-based games, and metaverse projects.

AltLayer was established by Yaoqi Jia, co-founder of blockchain firm Zilliqa and former director of Parity Asia. The firm aims to launch a testnet in the third quarter of the year and raise series A funding in Q3 or Q4 2022.

The firm plans to use the fresh funding to increase its headcount.

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Other investors in this funding round include:

• Circle co-founder and USDC architect Sean Neville
• Ethereum co-founder and Parity Technologies CEO Gavin Wood
• Messari founder Ryan Selkis
• Synthetix co-founders Kain Warwick and Jordan Momtazi
• Former Polychain Capital general partner Tekin Salimi