CMS Holdings leads $1.3 million fundraise for Ethereum-Polkadot bridge

ParaState — a project that offers Ethereum developers access to the Polkadot blockchain — has raised $1.3 million in a seed fundraising round, the firm told The Block. 

Led by CMS Holdings, the funding round included participation from Kenetic Capital, FBG Capital, and JRR Capital, according to a press statement. The firm raised at a $12 million valuation. 

In essence, ParaState provides Ethereum apps and smart contracts an on-ramp onto the Polkadot blockchain. "We aim to bridge the application and developer ecosystem between Ethereum and Polkadot," the firm's co-founder Marco Chen described. 

ParaState said it had originally targeted a $1.2  million round but oversubscribed by $100,000.  The firm said the funds will be used to expand its team and launch its mainnet. 

The funding round is the latest in the burgeoning DeFi world. Earlier this week, dYdX — a decentralized exchange – announced a $10 million Series B. Last week, Saddle, an automated market maker for stablecoins, went live after raising $4.3 million.

This post has been updated to correct the CMS Trading to CMS Holdings.