Privacy-focused Espresso Blockchain secures $32M funding, goes public

Led by a group of researchers at Stanford University, the new Layer 1 blockchain ‘Espresso’ went public after announcing a $32 million funding round led by Greylock Partners and Electric Capital.

The Espresso protocol aims to build a blockchain by integrating zero-knowledge proof technology with proof-of-stake consensus to offer increased privacy and scalability. The protocol also plans to offer higher throughput and lower gas fees without sacrificing user privacy and decentralization.

“If you use a zero-knowledge proof to prove the validity of a large number of transactions that never get sent to the consensus protocol, then while the consensus protocol can verify their validity, they’re not able to provide data to users that is needed for constructing future transactions,” Espresso protocol CEO Ben Fisch said in an interview with TechCrunch.

Other backers of the round include Sequoia Capital, Blockchain Capital, Slow Ventures, Polychain Capital, Alameda Research, Coinbase Ventures, Gemini Frontier Fund, Paxos, and Terraform Labs.

“We are excited to back Espresso Systems as they tackle two of the key obstacles that will unlock long-promised applications of blockchain systems: lower fees and enhanced privacy guarantees,” Greylock Partners investor Seth Rosenberg said in a press release issued Monday.

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