EigenLayer restaking protocol raises $50m in Series A at a $750m valuation

The EigenLayer restaking protocol has raised $50 million in a Series A round, led by Blockchain Capital.

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We’ve led the $50M Series A financing of @eigenlayer!

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Founder @sreeramkannan is a technical visionary who’s revolutionizing our ecosystem.

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More on our thesis. ↓ pic.twitter.com/ozO9F8PbDw

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— Blockchain Capital (@blockchaincap) March 28, 2023

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According to The Block, the round also included Coinbase Ventures, Polychain Capital, Hack VC and Electric Capital.

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Equity in EigenLayer was valued at $250 million, with native tokens at $500 million.

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The startup was founded in 2021 by Shriram Kannan, an assistant professor at the University of Washington in Seattle. According to him, EigenLayer allows ETH to be used in staking to secure other protocols and to implement innovations at the consensus layer without the need to launch a new blockchain.

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“The core innovation of EigenLayer, namely restaking, changes the game for launching new crypto-economic networks,” said Bart Stephens, founder of Blockchain Capital.

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The project team plans to roll out the initial version of the protocol in phases by the end of 2023.

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According to the publication, EigenLayer previously raised $14.5 million in a seed round led by Polychain Capital and Ethereal Ventures.

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In February, the Ether.Fi liquid staking protocol attracted $5.3 million from North Island Ventures, Chapter One and a number of other investors.