Blockchain startup Taiko is set to launch the mainnet for its scaling solution after closing $37 million in funding over three rounds from top-tier crypto investors. The fresh capital comes ahead of a planned mainnet rollout later this year and positions the project to fulfill its goal of massively scaling Ethereum while preserving decentralization.
TLDR
Taiko has raised $37 million in funding ahead of its mainnet launch this year
The Series A round raised $15 million and was led by Lightspeed Faction, Hashed, Generative Ventures, and Token Bay Capital
Taiko has the largest Discord community in the rollups space with over 850,000 active members
Taiko has conducted 6 testnets involving over 1 million wallets to test different aspects of the protocol
Investors praised Taiko’s community, architecture, testnet achievements, and commitment to crypto’s original ethos
Taiko’s most recent funding round raised $15 million in Series A capital led by crypto-native funds Lightspeed Faction, Hashed, Generative Ventures, and Token Bay Capital. Existing Taiko backers like GSR and Amber Group also participated. This latest tranche brings the total raised to date to $37 million.
The firm intends to use the funds to propel development and grow its community leading up to the mainnet debut.
Taiko has already fostered the largest Discord ecosystem among projects working on Ethereum scaling solutions called rollups. Its community now tallies over 850,000 active members that have participated extensively in six separate testnet trials over the past year.
These testnets have stress tested components of Taiko’s two emerging rollup technologies with encouraging results, seeing participation from over 1 million unique wallets. Taiko’s rollup approaches include a configurable design called Based Contestable Rollup (BCR) as well as plans for a Based Booster Rollup (BBR) intended to tackle Ethereum’s liquidity fragmentation by facilitating seamless transfers between Layer 2 networks.
The latest test network called Katla forms the backbone of Taiko’s soon-to-launch mainnet based on the BCR architecture.
Part of the enthusiasm stems from Taiko’s commitment to honoring crypto’s core tenets with a completely decentralized and permissionless network architecture maintained from day one. The accessibility has allowed community members to actively contribute across operating nodes, building applications, and providing liquidity ahead of the mainnet rollout.
The progress to date has not gone unnoticed by investors. Generative Venture’s Will Wang commented that scaling Ethereum represents a “prerequisite” for the industry’s aspirations while highlighting Taiko’s special position among emerging Layer 2 solutions. Meanwhile Token Bay Capital’s Lucy Gazmararian called out Taiko’s adherence to crypto’s “original ethos” in keeping its operations radically decentralized from the start.
With substantial financial resources and community momentum propelling Taiko following its hot streak of test network victories, eyes now turn to the mainnet launch planned later this year. The event promises to mark another major milestone en route to the project’s goal of massively scaling Ethereum for global consumer adoption while retaining its core decentralization features.
If the mainnet activation goes smoothly, Taiko looks positioned to swiftly establish itself as a premier scaling solution for the world’s pre-eminent smart contract blockchain. Its permissionless community-driven approach could become a template for Web3 projects aiming to honor the founding principles of decentralization as blockchain technology penetrates the mainstream.
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