Blockchain platform Axelar establishes unicorn status, mainnet launch impending

The Axelar Network has announced the completion of a $35 million Series B funding round, pushing its market value above $1 billion. Participants of the round include Dragonfly Capital, Polychain Capital and North Island Ventures, among others.

The raise succeeds a previously undisclosed round led by the head of Crypto.com Capital, Bobby Bao in late-November 2021, a nine-investor $25 million Series A raise led by Polychain Capital, and participated by Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital in mid-July 2021, in addition to two seed rounds across the year of 2020.

Founded in early 2020 by inaugural team members at Algorand and esteemed MIT graduates, Axelar is an infrastructure protocol that fosters interoperable connectivity between blockchain platforms, decentralized applications (DApps) and associated functionalities.

After securing mainnet integrations with a series of validators and leading blockchain platforms such as Ethereum, Avalanche, Polygon and Polkadot, in addition to the upcoming release of the Axelar SDK, developers will have the ability to build applications to become accessible across all networks within the Axelar system.

In principle, this cross-chain technology would provide expansive possibilities for both developers and users by increasing access to liquidity and user base while enabling seamless transition across networks.

Cointelegraph reached out to Sergey Gorbunov, the CEO and Co-founder of Axelar, for an exclusive insight into the specific strategies for capital deployment across the business in preparation for their upcoming mainnet release.

He noted that the “primary focus is to provide universal interoperability with minimal risk”, and that “the funds will be used to continue building the core network functionalities, and scaling integrations with more blockchains and applications.”

“Axelar developers are also working to make the network easy to use so that developers on any blockchain can reach the deepest liquidity and broadest user base. With this in mind, we are dedicating resources to improving our APIs, SDKs and associated documentation.”

In December 2021, Gorbunov contributed to a Cointelegraph experts opinion piece and spoke proficiently on concerns that the DeFi industry is becoming over-reliant on centralized interoperability bridges, a culturally relevant topic that raises justified questions over bona fide decentralization in the space.

@Cointelegraph piece on taking crypto mainstream: "We’re going to witness the development of singular, universal infrastructures that help blockchain ecosystems achieve true interoperability, taking the industry a step closer to mainstream adoption."https://t.co/qDP75HPqqa pic.twitter.com/VlFFKBC0Xd

— Axelar Network (@axelarcore) December 24, 2021

Later in our conversation, Gorbunov shared his perspective on the potential for a cross-chain and/or multichain ecosystem model, and how their wide-scale implementations could benefit both users and developers.

"Multichain isn’t the future, it is here: Witness the growth of multiple Layer 1 blockchains. The demand for cross-chain services is also evident, in the proliferation of pairwise solutions and the growing value committed to those solutions."

He continued on to state: “It’s clear that developers want the ability to build on the chain that best suits their needs, without siloing liquidity. Users want the same thing. At Axelar, it is our goal to minimize the risks involved in cross-chain activity, and maximize the potential benefits to developers and users.”