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August 1, 2025 – Subzero Labs, a pioneering blockchain infrastructure company, today announced it has successfully closed a $20 million funding round led by Pantera Capital. The significant investment will accelerate the development and launch of Rialo, its groundbreaking new blockchain network designed to enable "internet-scale decentralized applications" with the responsiveness and usability of Web2 products.
The oversubscribed round saw strong participation from a consortium of leading venture capital firms and strategic investors, including Coinbase Ventures, Fabric Ventures, Mysten Labs, Susquehanna Crypto, and Varient. This substantial backing underscores the market's demand for a more intuitive and performant blockchain environment that bridges the gap between traditional web development and decentralized technologies.
For years, the promise of decentralized applications has been hampered by complex development tools, high costs, unpredictable performance, and user experiences that fall short of Web2 standards. Rialo addresses these critical challenges head-on, offering a "radical rethinking of decentralized programmable networks" that empowers developers to build sophisticated applications with familiar tools, delivering superior performance, cost-efficiency, and user experience compared to their centralized counterparts.
"Rialo is the only full-stack network for real-world applications – built by leading industry developers for developers," said Paul Veradittakit, Managing Partner at Pantera Capital. "It’s rare to see such a high concentration of talent to drive this vision. We believe under Ade and Lu’s leadership, Subzero Labs will deliver the infrastructure that finally empowers developers to create decentralized products that are intuitive, useful, and relevant to everyday users."
Subzero Labs' co-founders bring a wealth of experience from both the cutting-edge of blockchain and the demands of large-scale Web2 infrastructure. They were early engineers at Mysten Labs, contributing to the development of the Sui network. Their Web2 backgrounds include working on Meta's blockchain initiative Diem, AI infrastructure at Meta and Google, distributed systems at Netflix, and advanced microchips at AMD. This unique blend of expertise has attracted top talent from major tech firms like Apple, Amazon, and TikTok, as well as prominent crypto ecosystems including Polkadot and NEAR.
The Rialo network is engineered for the future of decentralized computing, leveraging advanced technologies to deliver unparalleled capabilities:
- Developer-Friendly Architecture: Designed to make building blockchain applications as easy as creating scalable Web2 products, allowing developers to use familiar tools.
- Real-World Applications: Enables apps to communicate natively with the internet, reducing the need for complex middleware stacks. This means seamless integration for functionalities like payments, weather data, or shipping information.
- Real-World Data: Provides native, trust-minimized feeds for real-time asset pricing and other data, eliminating reliance on external oracles and ensuring stable costs.
- Real-World Speed: Offers sub-second finality and responsiveness, ensuring applications react instantly to real-world events without delays or waiting screens.
- Real-World Connectivity: Facilitates seamless data movement between applications and across different chains without the need for bridges, wrappers, or hacks, leading to smarter pricing and real-time reactions.
- Real-World Privacy: Supports encrypted messages directly to real people via email, phone, or device ID, offering secure-by-default communication without complex setup or wallets.
- Full-Stack System: Unifies fragmented elements of blockchain development – including web calls, smart triggers, and cross-chain flows – into a single, cohesive system, accelerating app launch and ensuring smoother operation.
Rialo isn't just another Layer 1; it's a comprehensive, integrated solution built to address the fundamental limitations that have prevented decentralized applications from achieving mainstream adoption. By focusing on real-world utility, speed, and ease of use, Subzero Labs aims to unlock a new era of decentralized innovation.
About Subzero Labs:
Subzero Labs is a blockchain infrastructure company dedicated to building the next generation of decentralized networks. Founded by experienced engineers from leading Web2 and Web3 organizations, Subzero Labs is committed to creating developer-friendly and high-performance solutions that enable internet-scale decentralized applications. Its flagship product, Rialo, aims to bridge the gap between traditional web development and the decentralized future.About Rialo:
Rialo is a new blockchain network developed by Subzero Labs, designed as a full-stack system for internet-scale decentralized applications. It offers the responsiveness and usability of Web2 products while leveraging the power of blockchain for verifiable, secure, and efficient operations. Rialo focuses on real-world applications, data, speed, connectivity, and privacy, providing an intuitive environment for developers and a seamless experience for users.Compiled by CMO Intern team
