Axelar’s Series A funding round has attracted notable investors and industry players to scale network integrations for complete industry-wide blockchain interoperability

Axelar, the decentralized interoperability network that connects blockchain ecosystems, applications and users, has raised $25m in its Series A funding, led by Polychain Capital. The funding raised will go towards scaling the network’s key integrations and providing more engineering resources for the team’s rapid expansion.

In addition to Polychain Capital, notable investors in the funding round include Dragonfly Capital; Galaxy Digital; North Island Ventures; Robot Ventures; Collab+Currency; Cygni Capital; Lemniscap; Divergence Ventures; SCB 10X; Hypersphere; Zola Global Investors; Morningstar Ventures; Nima Capital; and GoldenCoin TS LLC. Angel investors participating in the Series A are Do Kwon, co-founder of Terra; Happy Walters, co-founder and CEO of Catalyst Sports & Media; Waikit Lau, founder and CEO of RemoteHQ; and others.

Olaf Carlson-Wee Founder & CEO of Polychain Capital, said: “Axelar’s cross-chain solution is truly groundbreaking for the decentralized economy. We are very excited to help support Axelar’s pioneering blockchain interoperability solutions in leading its investment round. Together, with our shared resources we are looking forward to working with Sergey and Georgios, and the wider Axelar team, in shaping the decentralized economy and blockchain industry for years to come.”

Axelar protocol is powered by a decentralized network and designed explicitly to frictionlessly connect all blockchain ecosystems that speak different languages. The protocol empowers developers to build on any blockchain platform and leverage global cross-chain liquidity and composability via the Axelar Network. Axelar Network is currently live in testnet, with a range of early adopters including the Polkadot, Terra, and Avalanche ecosystems. Polkadot users will be able to move digital assets from external chains to Moonbeam and use them in decentralized applications, while Avalanche users and developers will be able to access assets on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and additional chains connected to Axelar’s network.

Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner of Dragonfly Capital, said: “We are very excited to get behind Axelar and support its mission in delivering a complete interoperability stack for the entire DeFi ecosystem. We're now in a fully cross-chain world, and Axelar is essential for enabling truly trustless cross-chain applications that are presently impossible. Sergey, Georgios, and the rest of the Axelar team are going to be a transformative force for DeFi and the smart contract ecosystem.”

Sergey Gorbunov, Co-founder & CEO of Axelar, concluded: “We are delighted to have reached such an important funding milestone, which will allow us to work towards our goal in delivering complete industry wide blockchain interoperability solutions, including further integrations with other networks. We are thankful for such a vote of confidence in Axelar by our investors and stakeholders, who have recognised the need for scalable cross-chain communication, and believe that Axelar is the one to deliver it.”

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About Axelar

Axelar is building a decentralized network and tools that connect users, assets, and dApp across multiple blockchain ecosystems. The network empowers 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 provides a uniform solution to cross-chain communication, allowing dApps to integrate with the full blockchain ecosystem. Developed by the founding team members of Algorand and their team, Axelar’s co-founders are award-winning graduates of MIT, where they received notable recognition as part of their graduate studies.