Ethereum Scaling Startup Reportedly Triples Valuation in 4 Months

The Ethereum layer-2 developer is raising at least $100 million, Israeli newspaper Calcalist reported

article-image

StarkWare co-founders Uri Kolodny (left) and Eli Ben-Sasson (right)

share

key takeaways

  • “Since StarkNet was launched, interest from devs and investors has gone through the roof,” an anonymous company source told Blockworks
  • In an interview with Blockworks in November 2021, one of the four co-founders said that they “didn’t need the money” from its Series C, but the funds helped them grow their operations even faster

Ethereum layer-2 developer StarkWare is raising at least $100 million, for a valuation of $6 billion, Israeli newspaper Calacalist reported.

StarkWare declined to comment Thursday. However, a company source, who spoke under anonymity to Blockworks, said they couldn’t confirm it, “but it sounds entirely plausible.”

“Since StarkNet was launched, interest from devs and investors has gone through the roof,” the source said.

The new valuation is triple its previous $2 billion valuation from just four months ago, when the company raised $50 million in a Series C round led by Sequoia Capital.

“It seems to be the idea of letting anyone build Web3 that’s caught the imagination of venture capital,” the source said. “So, while the numbers cited are high, if I arrive at work and hear it’s accurate, I won’t be surprised.”

StarkWare is a four-year-old startup — created by four co-founders Eli Ben-Sasson, Alessandro Chiesa, Uri Kolodny and Michael Riabzev — that offers blockchain scaling services through “STARK” proofs, which are Ethereum-based products using rollups technology invented by Ben-Sasson and Riabzev.

The StarkWare-based solutions include its two products — StarkEx, a permissioned validity rollup, and StarkNet, a permissionless decentralized zero-knowledge rollup  — which aim to increase speed and reduce the cost of Ethereum gas fees.

The largest dApp on StarkEx, by total-value-locked (TVL), is decentralized derivatives exchange dydx, with roughly $1 billion in TVL, according to DeFi Llama.

Two weeks ago, StarkNet began deploying decentralized apps, or dApps, with zero-knowledge rollup technology to help alleviate the blockchain’s scaling problem. 

In an interview with Blockworks in November 2021, Kolodny said StarkNet “didn’t need the money” from the Series C, but the funds helped them grow their operations faster.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) represent low-hanging fruit in a massive market ripe for Web3-driven disruption. The global CDN market was valued at ~$28B in 2024, and is projected to surpass $140B by 2034, (18.75% CAGR) underscoring the immense demand for efficient content delivery.

article-image

The $135 million raise shows that TradFi giants are serious about crypto adoption

article-image

The banking system still processes payments like it’s 1975. Crypto might have a fix.

article-image

Fiserv’s launch follows Senate passage of the GENIUS Act for stablecoin regulation.

article-image

Bitcoin is emerging as “the new standard for long-term corporate resilience,” Swan Bitcoin CIO says

article-image

Cybersecurity experts explain how the attack could have been prevented