Vlayer, a crypto startup developing "Solidity 2.0" — which adds new functions to Ethereum's smart contract language — has raised $10 million in a pre-seed funding round.

Investors in the round include a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator (CSX), Credo Ventures and BlockTower Capital, Vlayer said Monday. Angel investors such as Remco Bloemen from World (formerly Worldcoin), Jakub Florkiewicz from World developer Tools For Humanity, and Zac Williamson, Joe Andrews and Kev Wedderburn from Aztec also participated.

A $10 million pre-seed round is substantial. It was completed in two tranches: $3 million was closed in February within a week, while $7 million was closed in August in less than a month, Hubert Rachwalski von Rejchwald, co-founder and CEO of Vlayer, told The Block. The second tranche was structured as a top-up "with modified terms," Rejchwald said, but he declined to comment on the valuation. He said the round was structured as a combination of a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE) and a simple agreement for future tokens (SAFT).

Vlayer is a crypto startup developing "verifiable data infrastructure," calling it "Solidity 2.0." It aims to enable developers to verify and integrate real-world data into Ethereum smart contracts.

Specifically, Vlayer will introduce four new functions to Ethereum's Solidity language: Time Travel (execute smart contracts using historical on-chain data), Teleport (run contracts across multiple EVM-compatible networks), Web proofs/ zkTLS (verify and integrate web content, including APIs and websites) and Email proofs/ ZK Email (access and verify email content).

"We offer access to additional verifiable data sources directly from Solidity code," Rejchwald said. "This means that ZK [zero knowledge proofs] will be finally productized as something that is familiar and easy to use for any Solidity smart contract developer."

Rejchwald said that Vlayer takes a holistic approach to key verifiable data sources, integrating web proofs, email proofs and storage proofs, while other projects typically focus on only one of these areas. "For web proofs you should know zkPass or Reclaim Protocol, for email proofs you could use directly ZK Email, while storage proofs have Axiom, Lagrange or Brevis," he said.

Last month, zkPass raised $12.5 million in a Series A funding round at a $100 million token valuation.

Rejchwald claimed that once developers experience the enhanced Solidity functions being introduced, they will never want to revert to the previous version. As AI and decentralized applications continue to expand, the need for verifiable, trustless data is only going to increase, according to Rejchwald.

Vlayer is currently in an "open alpha" phase, inviting developers to build on its platform. "We are currently onboarding the first dozen of dapp developers spread across DeFi, RWA [real world assets] and gaming subsegments. There will be more sectors covered," Rejchwald said.

He said the Vlayer testnet, mainnet, and token launch are expected "no sooner than 2025. "

Vlayer currently employs 20 people, and Rejchwald plans to expand the team by hiring additional staff across various functions.

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