Scroll
Scaling Ethereum with research and technology
- 21-100 employees
- Blockchain
- Mahe, Seychelles
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Company mission
To provide users with near instant and cost efficient transactions while also upholding the high security properties offered by the Ethereum network.
Our take
Heavy traffic has created a real scaleability issue that’s threatening Ethereum’s long-term competitive viability. One solution is zero-knowledge (ZK) rollups, but they have’t historically been compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). This means developers can’t easily create layer 2 dApps with the familiar EVM tools until an EVM compatible zk rollup, or a zkEVM, is developed. Scroll is looking to be the first to fix this, but the race is a heated one.
Polygon and Matter Labs have also announced they'll be the first to bring out zkEVM rollups, possibly as early as late 2022. The crucial difference between these players for now appears to be precisely how far the rollups are compatible with or equivalent to EVM, with the latter being preferable. Scroll’s is arguably the most equivalent of the three, a “true zkEVM” in that it directly executes EVM bytecode - but whether this will be a boon or a hindrance remains to be seen.
The stakes are high, because general purpose zkEVM’s are expected to overtake the mainnet as the main arena for Ethereum development over the coming years. Being the first rollup to break that new ground would be a massive coup, so the world of blockchain is paying close attention.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Benefits
- Annual growth budget
- Coworking membership allowance
- Private healthcare in selected countries
Funding (2 rounds)
Mar 2023
$50m
EARLY VC
Apr 2022
$30m
SERIES A
Total funding: $80m
Leadership
Sandy Peng
(Co-founder)A Cambridge graduate who went on to work as a Management Associate at the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, and then a Partner at Fission Capital.
Haichen Shen
(Co-founder)Previously worked in software at Microsoft and Google, alongside serving as a Research Assistant at the University of Washington (where he completed his PhD in Computer Science). Subsequently worked as a Senior Applied Scientist for Amazon.
Ye Zhang
(Co-founder)Worked as a Research Assistant at Peking University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, before taking up an R&D role at Conflux. Is also completing a Computer Science PhD at NYU.