Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL) has closed a seed funding round of more than $25 M. The capital will be used to develop products built around private transactions on Zcash and to expand the engineering team.
The round included several major crypto investors, including Paradigm, a16z crypto, Coinbase Ventures, and others. The round also included private investors.
This round became the largest private venture investment in a team focused on the Zcash ecosystem.
Focus on the Zodl Wallet and Private Payments Infrastructure
The lab was founded by Josh Swihart, who previously served as CEO of Electric Coin Company, one of the key organizations in the Zcash ecosystem.
Electric Coin Company released its main product — the Zodl wallet, previously known as Zashi. The team positions it as the flagship user tool for interacting with Zcash.
Zcash Open Development Lab is building Zodl as an open financial platform centered on private transactions. The project team said it plans to expand ecosystem compatibility through partnerships and increase the use of shielded ZEC transfers. Development of the Zcash protocol itself remains a separate track.
The newly raised funds will be used to scale the team and continue building infrastructure around Zcash. According to participants in the round, the investment reflects growing interest from crypto funds in digital privacy technologies.
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