Blockchain interoperability project Analog raises token round at $120 million valuation

Analog, a blockchain interoperability project building cross-chain communication infrastructure, has raised $16 million in a seed and strategic funding round.

Tribe Capital led the round, with NGC Ventures, Wintermute, GSR, NEAR, Orange DAO, Mike Novogratz’s Samara Asset Group, Balaji Srinivasan and others participating, Analog said Monday. The firm started raising the round in October and closed it in December, Analog co-founder Victor Young told The Block. The funding was realized via a simple agreement for future tokens, or SAFT, Young said, adding that the round brought Analog’s fully diluted valuation to $120 million.

Young, a blockchain developer and investor, founded Analog in 2021 with Sanchal Ranjan, a former Y Combinator-backed entrepreneur and currently a “genesis member” of Orange DAO. Young said that Analog’s core team is based in Bangkok and Zurich.

Analog, a blockchain interoperability project

Analog is building cross-chain communication tools for interoperability across multiple blockchain networks. Its core products include Timechain, a Rust language-based blockchain network; a generic message-passing protocol; Analog Watch, a developer-facing product; and Timegraph SDK and API suite that will allow application builders to compose applications across multiple chains.

Analog can be compared with Axelar or LayerZero, but Young said Analog is more developer-focused.

“We are building all the necessary features for cross-chain development as a single toolkit as opposed to relying on third parties such as oracles to achieve the desired functionality,” he said.

Analog is built on Substrate, Young added, noting that it will allow the upgradability of Analog easier than its competitors if there are new proving mechanisms.

Analog testnet and mainnet launch

Analog’s public “incentivized” testnet is scheduled to be released at the end of the first quarter or early second quarter, Young said. The mainnet is planned to launch in the late second quarter, he added.

There are currently 30 people working for Analog, and Young is looking to hire more people across functions, including engineering and business development, with fresh capital in hand.