“As the blockchain industry continues to evolve, it is proving its potential to support a digital ecosystem defined by accessibility, efficiency, and interoperability,” Aaron Wong, investor at SoftBank Investment Advisers, said in a statement
The platform is planning to launch its mainnet later this year

Aleo, a privacy-minded blockchain network, has raised $200 million in preparation for its mainnet launch later this year.

Aleo’s Series B funding round was led by Kora Management and SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Other participants include Tiger Global, Sea Capital, Slow Ventures, Samsung Next and Andreessen Horowitz, a16z.

Aaron Wong of SoftBank investment in a statement said the next generation of blockchain technology will be defined by “accessibility, efficiency, and interoperability.”

“We believe Aleo is building the foundational layer that will ensure that the future of Web3 is scalable, safe and secure, enabling a range of applications such as gaming and financial transactions,” Wong said.

The capital raise boosts the platform’s valuation to $1.45 billion, following its $28 million Series A led by a16z in April 2021. As the platform works to launch its mainnet later this year, the funding will be used to develop products and services to build out an ecosystem on top of its decentralized network.

“The two biggest challenges in the blockchain space are privacy and scalability,” Daniel Jacobs, founder at Kora Management, said in a statement. “Aleo is building a foundational layer that addresses both, which we believe will help to catalyze and grow the next generation of truly mass-market use cases in blockchain, from gaming to DeFi and beyond.”

Unlike other blockchains like Ethereum, Aleo transactions are processed off-chain and only verified by the network nodes. The setup allows the platform to support high transaction volumes and empower developers to create decentralized applications, or dApps, that address complex use cases.

“Our goal at Aleo is to build the foundations for the next generation of decentralized web applications,” Howard Wu, CEO and chief technology officer of Aleo, said in a statement. “We want to use technologies, such as zero-knowledge proofs and blockchains, to create an ecosystem for developers that enriches and empowers users’ capabilities on the web.”

Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

The Breakdown: Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily.
0xResearch: Alpha in your inbox. Think like an analyst.