Axelar, the universal interoperability network connecting different blockchain ecosystems, apps, assets, and users, has announced that it secured an investment from Crypto.com Capital, the investment unit of cryptocurrency giant Crypto.com.
This investment will “support Axelar’s mission to bring decentralized interoperability to blockchain ecosystems,” according to a release shared with CI.
Sergey Gorbunov, Co-founder and CEO of Axelar, stated:
“We are grateful for the continued support of our investors and stakeholders, who understand the urgent industry need for a universal interoperability framework, and trust in Axelar to achieve this. With this further funding we will continue to work towards our goal in enabling users to leverage cross-chain interoperability to facilitate asset transfer and increase liquidity, securely expanding their user base and reach.”
In addition to Crypto.com Capital, other contributors to this investment round for Axelar include Informal Systems Inc; SushiSwap’s co-founder, 0xMaki; Morningstar Ventures; Scytale Ventures and Zero Knowledge Validator, among others.
The proceeds will be channeled towards “growing the core Axelar team and support the ecosystem development.” This follows Axelar’s Series A funding round in July 2021, “which raised $25 million USD, led by Polychain Capital.”
Axelar protocol is being powered by a decentralized network and “designed explicitly with a protocol suite, tools, and APIs, designed to break down the barriers to cross-chain communication.”
The protocol enables application developers to build on any blockchain platform, while “leveraging global cross-chain liquidity and composability through the Axelar Network.” Axelar Network is currently live in testnet “with a wide range of early adopters including Polygon, Polkadot, Terra, Avalanche, Pangolin Exchange, and Keplr Wallet,” the update revealed.
Bobby Bao, Co-Founder of Crypto.com and MD of Crypto.com Capital, remarked:
“Increased adoption of blockchain has showcased many key limitations in terms of scalability and liquidity. Cross-chain interoperability is emerging as the solution for this, offering transmission of value and information between different blockchain networks. Axelar has a unique approach to interoperability, providing easy connectivity, high security, and robustness to its infrastructure. Our investment in Axelar is another important step towards allowing our users to transact across more assets.”
As covered, Axelar is focused on creating a decentralized network and tools that connect users, assets, and dApp “across multiple blockchain ecosystems.”
The network has been designed to empower developers to “build on the best platform for their needs while leveraging the Axelar stack to unlock cross-chain composability and liquidity.”
Axelar Network consists of “a protocol suite, tools, and APIs, designed to break down the barriers to cross-chain communication.” Powered by a decentralized open network of validators, anyone can “join the network, use it and build on it.”
The Axelar Network offers a uniform solution to cross-chain communication, “allowing dApps to integrate with the full blockchain ecosystem.” Developed by the founding team members of Algorand, Axelar’s co-founders are graduates of MIT.
As noted in the update, Crypto.com Capital, the venture arm of Crypto.com invests in crypto startups at Seed and Series A stages. With $200 million earmarked for investment, Crypto.com Capital is “committed to accelerating the growth of promising startups.”
Crypto.com Capital gives founders building in the crypto industry “two things: a reputable lead investor for their Seed or Series A rounds, and priority of launch on the world’s fastest-growing retail crypto platform with over 10 million users.”
Crypto.com Capital will “lead seed rounds with cheque sizes between $100k and $3m and Series A rounds from $3m to $10m.”