Manta Network developer p0x labs raises $25 million, launches Layer 2 for ZK apps

The development team behind Manta Network, p0x labs, has raised $25 million in a Series A funding round. The round was led by Polychain Capital and Qiming Venture Partners, valuing the project at $500 million.

In conjunction with the funding, Manta Network has launched the testnet for its Layer 2 solution, Manta Pacific, aimed at developing zero-knowledge (ZK) applications within its modular ZK ecosystem, according to a statement.

The funding will be allocated to expand Manta Pacific and Manta Atlantic, its ZK Layer 1 blockchain for compliant on-chain privacy, the team announced.

“We are excited to see Manta expanding into the Ethereum ecosystem, and have doubled down on our investment this Series A round,” added Polychain Capital investor Luke Pearson.

Manta claimed that Manta Pacific is the first Ethereum Virtual Machine-native modular execution layer specifically designed for ZK adoption — providing plug-and-play functionality for developers.

The team added that Manta Pacific utilizes Celestia’s data availability layer for enhanced security and reduced fees. Additionally, it uses a modified version of Optimism’s OP Stack by Caldera for scalability.

“Individually, Manta Network’s ZK solutions, Celestia’s modular data availability layer and Optimism’s OP Stack have gained substantial traction within our respective spheres,” Manta Network core contributor Kenny Li said. “By combining these three together, we are creating the best-in-class ecosystem for developers and users when it comes to ZK use cases. This will be instrumental in driving user adoption of ZK products.”

Leveraging ZK tech

ZK tech is widely seen as one of the most promising solutions to Ethereum’s scalability and privacy challenges, with Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin previously predicting ZK-Rollups will likely become the main Layer 2 solution for the network.

“Manta Pacific will leverage the performance capabilities of the modular ecosystem, whilst also allowing increasing access to ZK. We are excited to see ZK adoption grow, bringing throughput and privacy to the ecosystem,” Pearson added.

Manta also argued that while there was increased investor confidence and developer activity in the crypto niche, “many existing initiatives remain isolated from end users, who ultimately drive blockchain activity."

“We have seen for the first time the real potential for ZK to onboard substantial user numbers through applied use cases,” Yi Tang, Principal at Qiming Venture Partners said. “We are looking forward to extending that adoption into web2 as well, and helping Manta Network to enter into the Asia market.” 

Manta Pacific's testnet currently offers ZK applications including an on-chain game zkHoldEm, verified credential protocol zkMe and data verification protocol zkPass.

Manta claims that its native Manta Wallet has been installed over 200,000 times and that its combined project ecosystem reaches more than 1.5 million users.