The English crypto startup NEBRA has recently closed a successful $4.5 million funding round led by Nascent and Bankless. This round included Pre-Seed and Seed investments, as well as support from notable angels such as Tim Beiko, Kartik Talwar, Nick White, Sandy Peng, and Haichen Shen.

NEBRA focuses on research and development in strategies for enhancing privacy and scaling of blockchain technology using zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP). The company’s mission is to provide cost-effective and efficient solutions for users across the blockchain ecosystem.

As part of the a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator program, NEBRA was selected to participate in the CSX Spring 2024 cohort in London. The newly raised funds will be used to further research on the Shared Settlement Layer (SSL) of the internet, aiming to address the high cost of proof settlement on Ethereum and other blockchains by advancing ZKP technology.

Zero-knowledge proofs offer the potential for on-chain privacy, a crucial aspect for the scalability of blockchains. However, these technologies can be expensive, collectively costing users in the Ethereum ecosystem over $50 million in gas fees during a stress test in 2023. UPA, a tool developed by NEBRA demonstrated impressive resilience by processing 1,000,000 proofs within 36 hours.

Dan Elitzer, co-founder of NEBRA compares the company’s mission to the revolutionary impact of Google and Uber in their respective sectors. He envisions NEBRA as a pioneering platform that brings economy of scale to blockchain ZKP settlements