Astar Network Raises $22M to Boost Polkadot Interoperability

The winner of Polkadot’s third parachain auction, Astar Network, has raised $22 million in its latest strategic funding round. The project will use the funds to develop interoperability between Ethereum and Polkadot-native smart contracts.

Astar Network Secures Funds

Astar Network just landed a big investment. 

The Polkadot parachain winner announced Friday that it had secured $22 million in a strategic raise. Polychain Capital led the investment, with fellow venture capital firms Alameda Research, Alchemy Ventures, and Crypto.com Capital also contributing. Several notable angel investors also chipped in, including Polkadot creator Dr. Gavin Wood and Japanese professional soccer player Keisuke Honda. 

Today’s strategic round is the second major raise for Astar Network. A previous raise in June 2021 brought in $10 million from Fenbushi Capital, OKX Ventures, and Huobi Capital. As Astar Network is developed by Singapore-based Stake Technologies, most of its previous contributors have been Asia-based firms. In a press release, Astar explained the latest strategic round was aimed at developing U.S. investors and strategic partners, allowing Astar to increase its geographical reach.

Astar Network is the first multi-chain smart contract platform on Polkadot. The protocol allows Ethereum and Polkadot-native smart contracts to co-exist and communicate with each other, supporting Ethereum developers who want to build on Polkadot. 

Astar also supports multiple bridges to other Layer 1 networks. Currently, Astar supports connections to Celer Network and Nomad through the Multichain bridge, with a Cosmos bridge planned to go live in the first quarter of 2022. The funds from today’s raise will go toward accelerating Astar’s vision of an interoperable, multi-chain future. 

After the first round of Polkadot parachain auctions concluded in December, parachain slot winners have started to launch on the network. Moonbeam was the first to go live on Jan. 11, with Astar Network close behind on Jan. 17. As parachains on Polkadot start building out their platforms and products, interest from institutional investors is likely to continue. 

Disclosure: At the time of writing this feature, the author owned DOT, GLMR, and several other cryptocurrencies.