Orb Labs Raises $4.5 Million Seed, Led by Bain Capital Crypto, to Solve Blockchain Interoperability Once and for All

Orb Labs, a blockchain interoperability company, is excited to announce its $4.5M seed round led by Bain Capital Crypto, with participation from Shima Capital, 6th Man Ventures, Aves Lair, Newman Capital, Modular Capital, and SevenX Ventures.

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Blockchain interoperability is at the heart of the crypto ecosystem, enabling developers to create new powerful products and services that leverage the benefits of multiple blockchains concurrently. However, existing interoperability protocols are either too expensive, slow, or not secure. Founded in 2022 by highly experienced software engineers, seven-year crypto veterans, and Princeton University classmates Richard Adjei and Felix Madutsa, Orb Labs is working to change this. Through its best-in-class solution for blockchain interoperability, Orb Labs prioritizes efficiency and security, qualities that are critical for developers building user-friendly cross-chain applications.

In pursuit of this mission, the company plans to launch Earlybird, a cross-chain messaging protocol that is more than 10x cheaper than other protocols while boasting a level of security unmatched in the interoperability space. The protocol is versatile and allows developers to choose security models that make sense for their applications based on factors such as use case, cost, and speed. Developers can leverage trust-minimized systems with extremely high degrees of security or utilize lightweight systems that prioritize speed and costs. The company is also working on another product, MagicLane, an efficient, secure, and composable omnichain token and messaging platform built on Earlybird. MagicLane provides developers with a shared security model and makes it easy to use Earlybird by abstracting away security configurations.

“There have been many exciting companies and technological advancements across the cross-chain interoperability space over the last couple of years. However, none provide a great solution to the blockchain interoperability problem. Currently, developers are unable to find messaging protocols that push the limits on usability and security,” said Richard Adjei, Co-Founder of Orb Labs. “Our team is excited to power the next wave of blockchain interoperability by providing gas-efficient, fast, and trust-minimized messaging protocols. We believe Orb Labs has the potential to create the new standard for messaging, token transfers, and advanced interoperation between blockchains, and we look forward to continuing to work towards our mission of unlocking the full potential of the blockchain ecosystem.”

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Orb Labs’ protocols enable developers to build a wide range of products they could not build before. For example, DeFi developers can build cross-chain exchanges that are more than 40% cheaper to use on Ethereum than exchanges like Uniswap. This same fee reduction mechanism can be leveraged in any computationally expensive applications on Ethereum, like lending and yield farming protocols. Similarly, new L1/L2 developers can build robust trust-minimized native bridges that allow users to move funds securely and seamlessly between chains. The company is already in conversation with several DeFi, L1/L2 developers, and other developers who are exploring ways to use Earlybird and MagicLane to connect their fragment communities and improve their applications’ usability and security.

“There currently exist a number of challenges facing cross-chain developers, and our goal is to provide the tools and resources so that developers can focus their energy on creating incredible applications that generate value for both themselves and their customers,” said Felix Madutsa, Co-Founder of Orb Labs. “Through Orb Labs’ products, we envision a world in which a developer can launch on any chain of choice and easily access resources, liquidity, and users on other chains leveraging a maximally secure, low-fee, high-speed, and highly-configurable messaging protocol.”

In addition to finalizing and launching Earlybird and MagicLane, Orb Labs will use its seed funding to expand its team, accelerate its product development, scale technology capabilities, and perform security audits ahead of the company’s official launch.

“Orb Labs is at the cutting edge of blockchain interoperability and continue to build innovative solutions to reduce the current inefficiencies and costs that burden Web3 developers,” said Lydia Hylton, Partner at Bain Capital Crypto. “Richard, Felix, and the Orb Labs team are well-positioned to help developers capture more value across multiple blockchains and usher in a multi-chain future. We look forward to continuing to support their mission.”

“There is an ever-growing need for multi-chain infrastructure and interoperability before Web3 achieves mass adoption. The first step towards meeting this need is building flagship protocols to draw in users and nurture a growing community,” said Yida Gao, Founder and Managing General Partner of Shima Capital. “We believe the Orb Labs team is equipped with the technology, capabilities, and products to take interoperability to the next level, starting with Earlybird and MagicLane. We can’t wait to see their efforts play out.”

“We are thrilled to partner Orb Labs on their mission to enable a multi-chain future that is cheaper, more secure, and significantly more gas and capital efficient,” said Carl Vogel, Partner & Head of Research at 6th Man ventures. “Crypto needs cross-chain infrastructure that can support mass market adoption, and we believe Richard and Felix possess the right engineering experience, ingenuity and perseverance to unlock 10x+ improvements in scalability and interoperability.”

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