Blockchain Innovator Inco Raises 4.5 Million Dollars, Debuts Groundbreaking Testnet Launch

Crypto News- Inco, a pioneering modular blockchain developer dedicated to enhancing confidentiality in decentralized applications, announced the successful closure of a $4.5 million seed funding round. Spearheaded by crypto-focused venture firm 1kx, the investment round witnessed participation from esteemed backers including Circle Ventures, GSR, Polygon Ventures, Robot Ventures, Alliance DAO, zkSync developer Matter Labs, and others.

Remi Gai, the founder of Inco, revealed that the funding round, initiated in September, concluded around November. The financing structure, described as a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE) plus token warrants, was chosen by the company, although Gai refrained from disclosing the valuation details.

Blockchain Innovator Inco Raises 4.5 Million Dollars, Debuts Groundbreaking Testnet Launch

Inco, established in August, marked a significant milestone with the launch of its first testnet, named Gentry, today. The company has ambitious plans for its upcoming releases, with the Paillier testnet slated for release between the second and third quarters of this year, followed by the highly anticipated mainnet launch in the fourth quarter.

What Sets Inco Apart?

Distinguished by its modular and interoperable Layer 1 blockchain network, Inco is committed to revolutionizing decentralized applications with enhanced confidentiality features. While projects like Celestia and Lava prioritize data availability and access, respectively, Inco stands out by focusing on confidentiality.

According to Gai, existing privacy technologies such as zero-knowledge proofs and trusted execution environments have inherent limitations. Inco addresses these shortcomings by integrating fully homomorphic encryption, ensuring on-chain data remains confidential yet auditable.

Wei Dai, a research partner at 1kx, lauded Inco’s innovative approach, stating, “Smart contracts have been limited by their lack of access to programmable confidentiality. This changes with the latest innovations in threshold FHE and blockchain that Inco is bringing to market.”

Inco has forged strategic partnerships with industry leaders, including Zama, a prominent FHE research company. Notable advisors such as Zama CEO Rand Hindi, Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal, and venture capitalist Anand Iyer provide invaluable guidance to the company.

Technologically, Inco leverages the Cosmos SDK and will be secured by Ethereum via EigenLayer. Gai emphasized the importance of dual staking (ETH + INCO) to bolster network security, particularly considering the susceptibility of new Cosmos projects to attacks.

With plans to establish itself as Ethereum’s native confidentiality layer, Inco aims to foster an ecosystem of confidential decentralized applications. Gai envisions a streamlined development process, noting that Solidity developers can create dApps on Inco within 20 minutes.