<p><span data-contrast="auto">Layer 1 blockchain Shardeum closed its $18.2 million seed funding round at a $199 million valuation. The Block </span><a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/161702/shardeum-wazirx-ceo-raising-18-million-200-million-valuation-token"><span data-contrast="none">first reported</span></a><span data-contrast="auto"> that the startup was seeking to raise $18 million at a $200 million valuation in August.</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="auto">Over 50 investors participated in the seed round, including Spartan Group, Big Brain Holdings, Jane Street and Foresight Ventures, according to a company announcement.</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="auto">Co-founded by Indian exchange WazirX’s founder Nischal Shetty and blockchain architect Omar Syed, Shardeum is a proof-of-stake blockchain platform that uses dynamic state sharding technology in pursuit of efficiency gains. </span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}"> </span></p> <h2><strong>What is sharding?</strong></h2> <p><span data-contrast="auto">Sharding helps split blockchain infrastructure into smaller pieces to try to scale the network. It helps increase block space for more transactions and reduces gas fees.</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="auto">Shardeum’s architecture aims to resolve user experience issues faced by both users and developers of exisiting sharded blockchains, according to the announcement.</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="auto">“The blockchain trilemma has been a difficult problem to solve, and scalability is the most significant factor that is preventing wider crypto adoption especially in emerging markets like India,” said Shetty in a statement. “The web3 ecosystem has been on a massive growth spree. For web3 to onboard 1 billion users in the next few years, we need a scalable L1 blockchain which ensures 1 cent fees forever while maintaining decentralization. Shardeum aims to make that happen.”</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}"> </span></p> <h2>The Layer 1 wars continue</h2> <p><span data-contrast="auto">Shardeum is just one of several new Layer 1 blockchains that have raised funds as of late. Others include </span><a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/159439/aptos-closes-150-million-round-led-by-ftx-ventures-jump-crypto"><span data-contrast="none">Aptos</span></a><span data-contrast="auto">, </span><a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/168532/mysten-labs-sui-blockchain-fundraise-ftx-ventures"><span data-contrast="none">Sui</span></a><span data-contrast="auto"> and </span><a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/166695/top-market-makers-back-new-blockchain-for-trading-founded-by-goldman-sachs-and-robinhood-alums-bloomberg"><span data-contrast="none">Sei Labs.</span></a><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="auto">The new funds will be used to ramp up Shardeum’s marketing efforts and grow the development team. The team will be hosting hackathons in India and the U.S. to incentivize developers to build on the ecosystem.</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="auto">The recent fundraise took place via </span>a private token sale.<b><span data-contrast="auto"> </span></b><span data-contrast="auto">Shardeum is expected to launch in the first quarter of next year and will later stage</span> a public token sale. </p> <p><span data-contrast="auto">“I invested in Shardeum as I think they are trying an interesting approach to scaling, which increases TPS as more validation nodes are added,” said Balaji Srinivasan, former chief technology officer of Coinbase, in a statement.</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}"> </span></p> <p>The $18 million raise is well above the average check size for a seed round in the third quarter of the year, according to <a href="https://www.theblockresearch.com/q322-blockchain-venture-funding-and-ma-recap-176212">data from The Block Research</a>. It's closer to the average Series A check size, which comes in at $22.8 million.</p> <div id="attachment_177235"class="wp-caption alignleft" style="max-width: 1780px;"><img class="has-caption size-full wp-image-177235" src="https://www.tbstat.com/wp/uploads/2022/10/Screenshot-2022-10-14-at-13.58.56.png" alt="Third quarter blockchain venture deals size" width="1770" height="1242" /><p class="wp-caption-text"><span style="font-size: 8pt;">Third quarter blockchain venture deal size from The Block Research</span></p></div><br /><span class="copyright"><p>© 2023 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.</p> </span>