LayerZero Labs Hits $3B Valuation After $120M Series B Round

​​​​LayerZero Labs, the company making the cross-chain messaging protocol, has gotten an extra $120 million, according to a press release from April 4. The business intends to use the funds to hire more people and broaden its clientele in the Asia-Pacific region. In March 2022, the firm had earlier raised $135 million.

The cross-chain messaging system LayerZero, frequently used to build asset bridges between blockchain networks, is the most well-known product of LayerZero Labs. Additionally, it supports the Stargate multichain connection.

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— LayerZero Labs (@LayerZero_Labs) April 4, 2023

The business is now valued at $3 billion following the conclusion of this fundraising round. Over 33 investors participated in the most recent financing round, including Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, BOND, Circle Ventures, Christie’s, OpenSea Ventures, and Samsung Next.

The latest round of funding, according to LayerZero Labs co-founder and chief technology officer Ryan Zarick, will help establish a multichain environment where apps can make the most of each network’s distinct advantages:

“Imagine a future where a single user-facing application can harness the speed of Solana, the security of Ethereum, and the cheap file storage of Arweave, while also being fully abstracted to the user.”

He continued, “This is our vision, made possible by the LayerZero protocol that seamlessly connects all blockchains and enables chain-agnostic applications to be built across various blockchains to create a best-in-class user experience. The days of choosing one chain to build on are over; the future is omnichain applications.”

According to Chainanalysis, over $3 billion was stolen from blockchain bridges in 2022, making the problem of securing cross-chain messages urgent in recent years. By using an oracle and relayer to secure messages, LayerZero has tried to address this issue. However, a message is only confirmed as valid if the relayer and oracle concur.

On January 31, LayerZero finished second to Wormhole with 37.58% of the vote to replace it as Uniswap’s bridge protocol for cross-chain administration between Ethereum and BNB Chain. The integration of LayerZero with Gnosis’ multi-bridge platform, Hashi, was revealed on March 30 and will further boost the security of blockchain bridges.