Taiko Labs Reveals $22 Million Raise to Build Decentralised ZK-EVM

Cryptocurrency startup Taiko Labs, which is working to expand the capabilities of the Ethereum blockchain, has announced the completion of a $22 million funding round. According to the company, Sequoia China led a $10 million seed raise that ended in the third quarter of 2022, while Generative Ventures led a $12 million pre-Series A round that closed recently.

Taiko is developing a scaling solution for the Ethereum blockchain which aims to be as similar to Ethereum and as possible in terms of both architecture and ideology. The company identifies its offering as a Type 1 zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine. This week, the company unveiled the newest version of its testnet, which it sees as the next logical step towards a decentralised ZK-EVM that can compete with Ethereum.

Taiko has also revealed plans to model itself after Ethereum in terms of organisational structure and will soon transition into a nonprofit status. The ideal model for the company is the Ethereum Foundation. According to the firm, the EVM specifications were used as a basis for design decisions because they provide the finest features.

According to the company, the two rounds of funding are sufficient to ensure the launch of its mainnet, but more money will be needed to set up an ecosystem investment fund to entice dApps and developers to join the ecosystem. A new version of Taiko’s testnet, which the company called “the next step on the road to a decentralised, Ethereum-equivalent ZK-EVM,” was published earlier this week.