RISC Zero – a developer of leading general purpose zero-knowledge (ZK) virtual machine technology – recently announced it has raised a $40 million Series A. The funding round was led by Blockchain Capital and joined by seed round lead Bain Capital Crypto, with participation from other notable investors, including Galaxy Digital, IOSG, RockawayX, Maven 11, Fenbushi Capital, Delphi Digital, Aglaé Ventures, IOBC, Tribute Labs’ Zero Dao, Figment Capital, and Alchemy Ventures.
RISC Zero’s goal is to equip developers and infrastructure providers with novel cryptographic tools to power the next generation of trustless, scalable, and decentralized computation; both on and off-chain — enabling them to build solutions that defy common assumptions about the capabilities of blockchains and other federated and cooperative computing systems. Our innovative system enables users to confidently take control of their digital world by ensuring computational integrity and producing indisputable receipts of accurate program execution.
RISC Zero’s ZK Virtual Machine (zkVM) enables developers to build ZK-powered applications with the convenience of conventional programming languages. Utilizing advanced features like continuations, RISC Zero’s zkVM can run programs of arbitrary complexity and scope while utilizing off-the-shelf computing platforms, which is a first in the blockchain industry.
This funding round will enable RISC Zero to bring its Bonsai computing platform to market, supporting rapid application development and deployment in both cloud and decentralized environments. And with Bonsai, developers can focus on writing their application instead of worrying about proof orchestration and server infrastructure complexities. Bonsai is going to bring massively parallel ZK-proving functionality to any developer, in any language, on any chain.
KEY QUOTES:
“Imagine a world where data privacy, security, and trust are no longer concerns, where software supply chains are transparent and verifiable, and where a new generation of applications can harness the power of zero-knowledge computing to solve some of the most pressing challenges of the digital age. This is the promise of zero-knowledge computing and the reason we are investing in RISC Zero.”
— Bart Stephens, Founder and Managing Partner at Blockchain Capital
“We’re honored to be supported by all of our incredible capital partners and the visionary leaders and teams that have signed on to help us build this revolution in computing capability. We’re excited to play our part in building a more open and trusted foundation for the future of the internet.”
— Brian Retford, CEO & Co-founder
