RISC Zero raises $40M Series A to make zero-knowledge proofs usable by regular developers

Startup with a platform that lets programmers generate zero-knowledge proofs for most forms of computation

Developers without cryptography training will build zero-knowledge proofs if a general platform removes the theory barrier, first for crypto and then others

$12M seed in August 2022 led by Bain Capital Crypto, then $40M Series A in July 2023

Brian Retford, Frank Laub and Jeremy Bruestle had launched three startups together, selling the last, an AI-focused one, to Intel. As that sale closed, Bruestle kept pushing the potential of zero-knowledge proofs, and after a fair amount of research the trio started RISC Zero.

RISC Zero raised a $12M seed in August 2022 led by Bain Capital Crypto. On 2023-07-19 it announced a $40M Series A led by Blockchain Capital with Galaxy Digital, Alchemy Ventures, Fenbushi Capital, Delphi Digital and others. Retford, the CEO, declined to share the valuation. With 35 employees, the company said it would spend the money on building out marketing and sales.

Zero-knowledge proofs are hard for ordinary developers to build, which limits adoption

Funding for zero-knowledge proof firms was rising, and RISC Zero followed the rush

The founders had a prior exit to Intel and had worked together on three startups

A general-purpose platform covers most computation, rather than one blockchain use case

Selling developer tooling that hides a hard technique can be a funding thesis in itself; RISC Zero turned its team's third startup into a bet on lowering the barrier to zero-knowledge proofs.

As of 2023-07-19 RISC Zero had $52M raised across seed and Series A, 35 employees and interest from crypto firms and early talks with more traditional companies. The valuation was not disclosed.