Rated Labs Raises $12.9M To Expand Into Layer 2 Networks

Rated Labs raised $12.9 million in Series A funds with the hope of expanding into Layer 2 networks.

Crypto venture firm Archetype led the fundraising effort, which included other seed investors, The Block reported.

Rated Labs currently offers Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) infrastructure datasets.

Archetype’s founder and general partner Ash Egan has joined Rated’s board. The startup looks to expand offerings to multiple Layer 1 blockchain networks, including Polygon (CRYPTO: MATIC), Solana (CRYPTO: SOL), Cosmos (CRYPTO: ATOM), and Polkadot (CRYPTO: DOT), in 2024.

Rated’s total funding thus far amounts to about $15 million. The company commenced a pure equity raising for Series A in February 2023 and closed in May 2023. However, CEO Elias Simos did not provide any comments on valuations.

Rated Labs offers infrastructure datasets for Ethereum including data API, oracle, and support to understand the current and historical health of Ethereum’s validator set. The data API allows Ethereum developers and node operators to build reporting, monitoring, and benchmarking products, and the oracle is an entrance to bring curated data into the Ethereum mainnet.

“Besides that, we are working towards further enhancing the explorer and API with new features and real-time functionality for all the networks we support. Down the line, we see playing a similar role in decentralized sequencer sets in Layer 2 networks,” Simos commented.

Blockworks reported on Sep. 24 that 11 crypto startups raised a cumulative total of $115.5 million across gaming, custody, and institutional services in that week.

Gaming occupied the top position with a notable $33 million in seed fundraising by Proof of Play, an on-chain game studio. The outlook for crypto fundraising looks appealing as it enters the fall.

PitchBook data, cited by TechCrunch, indicates that venture capitalists invested $819 million across 91 companies in the crypto and blockchain sector throughout August, versus $542.8 million raised in July. The August numbers accounted for $400 million raised by Shariah-compliant digital asset exchange Haqqex while a $100 million round was raised by crypto custodian BitGo.

Produced in association with Benzinga