Blockchain Startup Hyperlane Raises $18.5M Round Led by Crypto Investor Variant

Hyperlane, a platform that helps developers connect applications across blockchains, has raised $18.5 million in a seed funding round led by crypto-focused investment firm Variant.

The funding will be used for hiring, product development and security, which includes bug bounties and additional audits, Hyperlane co-founder Jon Kol told CoinDesk in an email.

Other participants in the round include crypto financial services firm Galaxy Digital, CoinFund, Circle, Figment, Blockdaemon, Kraken Ventures, and NFX.

“The current state of crypto is fragmented, as there has been a proliferation of blockchains and applications, but users on a given blockchain can’t access applications on another,” Kol said. “It’s confusing and complex, and results in a user experience that many, even crypto veterans like our team, find cumbersome and unruly,” he added.

Security vulnerabilities in cross-chain bridges led to an estimated $2 billion in cryptocurrency losses this year, according to a Chainalysis report last month.

Hyperlane has already completed several security audits and further security efforts will be a major use of the new funding, Kol noted.

The Hyperlane platform provides developers with a messaging application programming interface (API) and software development kit (SDK) to easily build apps that can be accessed from any blockchain. Hyperlane continues to update the platform with the recently launched Interchain Accounts and the upcoming Sovereign Consensus features, which expand the ways developers can configure the cross-chain communication.

Hyperlane was co-founded by Asa Oines and Nam Chu Hoai, who were among the first engineers at decentralized finance platform Celo, and Kol, who previously co-led Galaxy’s venture investment business. The firm is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Advisors include NFX partner Morgan Beller, the co-creator of Facebook’s attempted stablecoin Diem, and Cosmos blockchain co-creator Zaki Manian.