Morph, a layer-2 Ethereum Virtual Machine, today announced a $19 million seed round led by Dragonfly Capital.
Morph is a fully permissionless EVM L2 that uses a combination of optimistic and zero-knowledge rollup technology to enable a user-friendly option for developers who require a chain on which to build finance, gaming, social media, and entertainment apps.
From a technical stance, Morph has focused on blockchain’s trilemma problem—how to balance decentralization, safety, and scalability.
“If we want to really bring blockchain to the next step, into mass adoption, we have to find a vertical which can really create value that the end users realize—so that’s why we focus on the consumer side,” Morph cofounder and CEO Cecilia Hsueh told Fortune.
Morph is designed to offer the most “founder-friendly pipeline” for projects in the L2 space, the company said in a statement. The technology is built within three key pillars: decentralized rollup technology, optimistic zkEVM integration, and modular design. Developers building on Morph have access to tools to help transition from the earliest stages of building up through a potential token listing.
It’s also the first layer-2 on Ethereum to launch with a decentralized sequencer, meaning multiple entities or nodes can participate in the sequencing process, meaning the opportunity for any single node to manipulate transaction order is significantly reduced.
“The existing L2 market is focused solely on short-term gains to be able to win the next casino round, rather than building for sustainable success. At Morph, we proudly help developers to create dApps that can truly make a long-term difference and win over a mainstream user base,” cofounder and COO Azeem Khan said in a statement.
The company plans to use the fresh capital on hiring, marketing to bolster its visibility within the L2 ecosystem, and refining its technical infrastructure. Additional investors include Pantera, The Spartan Group, and MEXC, with a further $1 million raised in an angel round. Bitget, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, is an original investor in Morph and plans to continue playing a role in the Morph ecosystem.
“We believe Morph’s technology can be exactly what developers in the consumer vertical need to pave the way for wider mainstream adoption,” Paul Veradittakit, a managing partner at Pantera Capital, said in a statement.
