In the early 21st century, the Internet faced serious fragmentation problems. There was a lack of effective connections between various networks, systems and protocols, which greatly limited the development potential of the Internet.
Similarly, Ethereum faces challenges: on the Ethereum Layer 1 (L1) network, cross-chain transfers of funds are expensive and slow. Currently, infrastructure such as bridges and oracles still treat each chain network as an isolated entity, and network operators and validators face challenges in meaningfully participating in multiple ecosystems.
Under this condition, on July 24, Rollup as a Service platform Caldera completed a $15 million Series A financing. This round of financing was led by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, and investment institutions such as Dragonfly, Sequoia Capital, Arkstream Capital, and Lattice also participated. This financing brings Caldera's total funding to $25 million, and they have raised $10 million last year. Currently, Caldera is working on building a project called "Metalayer" to unify the decentralized Layer 2 and Layer 3 ecosystems.
Caldera Introduction: Supporting 50+ Rollups and 1.7 Million Wallets
Caldera is one of the fastest growing rollup ecosystems on Ethereum, focusing on providing high-performance, customizable application rollup solutions for Web3 teams. Its network supports an ecosystem of more than 50 Rollups and 1.7 million wallets, improving the efficiency, scalability, and security of rollups through shared network effects.
Leading Caldera chains such as Manta, Apechain, Kinto, Injective, RARI Chain and Zerion's Zero Network have benefited from its strong support and collaboration mechanism. Its innovative Metalayer project is committed to unifying Ethereum's Layer 2 and Layer 3 ecosystems. Metalayer eliminates ecosystem fragmentation and improves scalability and operational efficiency by integrating multiple Rollup frameworks, including Optimism, Arbitrum, ZKsync and Polygon.
Caldera not only simplifies the deployment process for developers, but also lowers the entry barrier for new projects, promoting wider developer participation and innovation. Caldera has helped more than 50 projects launch their rollups, including Manta Pacific, Injective, ApeChain, Plume Network, Kinto, RARI Chain, and Zerion's Zero Network. The total locked value of these rollups exceeds $800 million, and more than 59 million transactions have been completed in 1.7 million independent wallets. These data clearly demonstrate the important role and influence of Caldera in promoting the development of the Ethereum rollup ecosystem.
Team situation: The core founders come from Web2 giants such as Nvidia and Apple
In 2022, Matt Katz and Arker Jou founded Caldera. The two have accumulated rich experience in top technology companies such as Nvidia, Apple, Waymo and Skiff, laying the foundation for the establishment of Caldera. Since then, its leadership team has included experts from leading web3 and traditional technology companies, including Coinbase, Google, Scale AI, Jump Trading and Amazon.
Since its establishment, Caldera's mission has been to provide developers with a web3 infrastructure platform based on Ethereum. Matt Katz, the company's founder and CEO, said that the financing activity quickly attracted the favor of a series of heavyweight investors when it was launched in May this year, and successfully completed the financing at the end of the same month. Although Caldera did not disclose the specific valuation or the role of investors on the board of directors, this round of financing undoubtedly provides solid financial support for the company's future technology development and market expansion.
Currently, Caldera has 14 employees and continues to expand its team to support product, design and engineering needs. The company's co-founder and CTO Parker Jou and Matt Cutts, both of whom graduated from Stanford University in computer science, co-founded Caldera and are committed to promoting the advancement of blockchain technology through innovative solutions.
About Metalayer: Supporting the growth of the Ethereum ecosystem and providing development experience across multiple Rollups
Backed by a $15 million Series A funding round led by Founders Fund, Caldera aims to unify the fragmented Layer 2 and Layer 3 ecosystems through its innovative Metalayer project.
Metalayer, as a universal abstraction layer for the entire chain, is built on top of Optimism, Arbitrum, Polygon, and the ZK stack to achieve a leap in interoperability and development convenience. This innovation not only simplifies the developer experience, but also enables Ethereum to achieve network scale more efficiently.
Caldera CEO Matt Katz sees Metalayer as a key advancement that will improve the developer experience across multiple Rollup-based decentralized applications (dApps). Its goal is to leverage shared network effects to provide superior scalability, efficiency, and security.
Building a Rollup bridge:
The core goal of Metalayer is to connect the different Rollup frameworks within the Ethereum ecosystem. Currently, these frameworks, including Optimism, Arbitrum, ZKsync, and Polygon, operate independently, each with its own advantages and limitations. By integrating them into a whole, Metalayer aims to eliminate fragmentation and liquidity silos. This integration not only simplifies the development process for dApp creators, but also opens up new design possibilities for innovative networks and tokens on various Rollup stacks.
Driving Ethereum’s scalability:
Ethereum’s scalability challenges are well known, with high costs and slow transaction speeds hindering mass adoption. Metalayer addresses these issues by facilitating seamless interoperability between different Rollup frameworks. This interoperability is critical to achieving network scalability without sacrificing decentralization and security. By creating a unified layer that supports multiple Rollups, Metalayer aims to amplify network effects, thereby accelerating Ethereum’s evolution into a scalable and decentralized blockchain platform.
Metalayer's technical foundation:
Caldera's technical approach is to integrate the main Rollup stack under a unified abstraction layer. This approach not only simplifies the development process, but also enhances operational efficiency. Developers can choose a set of modular DA (data availability) layers, execution layers, and settlement layers based on their specific project needs. This flexibility gives developers the ability to innovate within their dApps, while Caldera manages the infrastructure to ensure optimal performance and security.
Driving developer innovation:
One of Metalayer’s main goals is to democratize high-performance Rollup technology. By simplifying the deployment process and lowering the barrier to entry for new projects, Caldera enables a wider range of developers to participate in the Ethereum ecosystem. This democratization fosters a more vibrant innovation community where developers can experiment with new applications and token designs across interconnected Rollup frameworks.
Supporting the growth of the Ethereum ecosystem
Metalayer not only benefits individual developers, but also strengthens the overall Ethereum ecosystem. By promoting greater cooperation and synergy between different Rollup projects, Metalayer improves the resilience and sustainability of the network. This collaborative environment encourages the development of scalable solutions that meet the diverse needs of decentralized applications, covering various fields such as finance, games, NFT markets, etc.
As Ethereum continues to evolve, the importance of scalable and interoperable solutions like Metalayer cannot be ignored. Caldera is driving advancements in blockchain technology through Metalayer, which not only enhances the developer experience, but also paves the way for a more inclusive and robust Ethereum ecosystem. By unifying the Rollup framework under a unified, coherent layer, Metalayer accelerates innovation, promotes collaboration, and advances Ethereum's vision of becoming the foundation for decentralized applications around the world.
