Venture Capital Firm Polychain Capital Heads $8 Million Investment Round for Ethereum Layer 2 Developer Fluent Labs
Fluent Labs, a pioneering blockchain technology company, has announced the successful completion of a $8 million funding round, led by Polychain Capital, to develop an innovative Ethereum Layer-2 (L2) solution. The new L2 aims to provide a seamless user experience by enabling cross-VM composability, combining WebAssembly (WASM), Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), and an additional virtual machine (SVM) to create an extended execution network.
The funds raised will primarily be used to accelerate the development of the Ethereum L2 and expand the team of core contributors, particularly in the engineering department.
Unified Execution Environment for Developers
Fluent Labs' L2 is designed as an extended execution network for developers, unifying multiple virtual machines—specifically WASM, EVM, and SVM—to enable cross-compatible, secure, and scalable Ethereum-compatible smart contract execution.
Key functionalities of the L2 include:
- Multi-VM Support: By integrating WebAssembly along with the EVM and SVM, developers can write and deploy smart contracts in different environments but have them interoperate seamlessly on a single network. WebAssembly provides a modern, efficient, and flexible runtime that supports multiple programming languages and offers better performance and security than EVM alone.
- zkWasm Technology: Fluent Labs incorporates zkWasm—a zero-knowledge proof enabled WASM execution environment—which allows for privacy-preserving and highly scalable validation of smart contract computations off-chain, with succinct proofs verified on-chain. This enables cost-effective execution with strong cryptographic guarantees.
- Cross-Compatible Execution Network: The platform extends Ethereum by providing an ecosystem where different VMs can operate together, enabling developers familiar with Ethereum’s EVM and newer WASM-based tooling to build interoperable decentralized applications (dApps) without switching chains or learning substantially new frameworks.
- Developer-Focused Framework: Fluent Labs offers a development framework alongside the L2 network to unify tooling for various virtual machines, simplifying the building, testing, and deployment processes amid heterogeneous environments.
Enhancing Scalability, Interoperability, and Developer Experience
The architecture of Fluent Labs' L2 enhances scalability, interoperability, and developer experience by allowing diverse dApps and assets to co-exist and interoperate on the same L2 network with privacy and efficiency advantages from zero-knowledge proofs.
With the new L2, developers can create applications leveraging multiple blockchain ecosystems without compatibility concerns. For instance, a use case allowing users to swap ERC-20 tokens and Solana SPL tokens on a Solidity-based decentralized exchange is possible with Fluent's blended execution.
Funding Round Participants
Polychain Capital led the fundraising, with participation from Primitive, dao5, Symbolic Capital, Builder Capital, Nomad Capital, and Public Works. Balaji Srinivasan, Mustafa Al-Bassam, Jason Yanowitz, Santiago Santos, Dingaling, Cristian Manea, and Will Price were among the angel investors who joined the round.
Luke Pearson, General Partner at Polychain Capital, commented on his firm's leading role in the fundraising, stating, "Fluent Labs' innovative approach to Ethereum L2 development has the potential to significantly improve the user experience and scalability of decentralized applications."
Dino, Fluent's pseudonymous co-founder and CEO, stated that true cross-VM composability fundamentally transforms user experience. "We're excited to leverage the support of our investors to push the boundaries of what's possible in the blockchain space," he added.
The Fluent network enables users to access applications from different virtual machine ecosystems in the same place without switching wallets. With the successful funding round, Fluent Labs is poised to revolutionize the Ethereum L2 landscape, addressing the limitations of current blockchain execution environments and providing a more efficient, scalable, and interoperable solution for developers and users alike.
- The best solution for enhancing scalability, interoperability, and developer experience within the Ethereum Layer-2 (L2) environment is Fluent Labs' unified execution network, which combines WebAssembly (WASM), Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), and an additional virtual machine (SVM) to create a cross-compatible execution network for writing and deploying smart contracts.
- The success of Fluent Labs' $8 million funding round, led by Polychain Capital, will primarily be used to accelerate the development of the Ethereum L2 and increase the team of core contributors, particularly in the engineering department, to further improve the best finance and investing opportunities in technology.
- With the backing of prestigious investors like Polychain Capital, Primitive, dao5, Symbolic Capital, Builder Capital, Nomad Capital, and a lineup of angel investors, Fluent Labs is poised to bring the best news to the blockchain technology industry by revolutionizing the Ethereum L2 landscape with their innovative Layer-2 solution.
