Brevis Network Secures $7.5 Million in Seed Funding

Brevis Network, a startup leveraging zero-knowledge (ZK) technology for off-chain computations, has secured $7.5 million in its seed funding round.

The funding round was co-led by Polychain Capital and Binance Labs, with contributions from IOSG Ventures, Nomad Capital, Bankless Ventures, Hashkey, and several undisclosed angel investors, Brevis announced on Monday.

Funding Details

Brevis began its seed fundraising in June and closed it in September, according to co-founder Michael Dong, who shared this information with The Block. The round was structured as a token raise, yet he refrained from commenting on the post-round valuation.

What is Brevis?

Brevis serves as a ZK coprocessor or computation network aimed at enhancing blockchain scalability through ZK proofs. This technology allows complex tasks, such as data processing, to occur off-chain while only verified proofs are sent back to the blockchain. As a result, Brevis endeavors to lessen the blockchain's workload, boost speed, and decrease costs.

Dong noted, "Even with the emergence of Layer 2 rollups, blockchain smart contracts still face significant limitations with complex, data-driven computations." For instance, basic tasks like accessing a DEX trader's historical trade data can incur excessive computational costs and latency on blockchains, including Layer 2s. This challenge is why no DEX currently provides trading-volume-based fee tiers, a standard practice seen in centralized exchanges (CEXs).

Brevis seeks to address this concern by allowing smart contracts to offload intricate computations to a cost-efficient verifiable off-chain computing network.

Competition

Brevis' main competitors include Axiom, RISC0's Steel, and Vlayer. However, Brevis distinguishes itself by having technology that is actively utilized by partners, while most competitors remain in development. Recently, Vlayer secured $10 million in a pre-seed funding round for building verifiable data infrastructure.

Brevis' Offerings

Currently in the beta mainnet stage, Brevis’ ZK coprocessor is already in use by partners like Kwenta, JoJo Exchange, and Trusta. Other DeFi protocols—including PancakeSwap, Frax, Gamma, Quickswap, Mask Network, 0G, Bedrock, and Mellow Finance—are developing products using Brevis technology.

Dong highlighted, "Our focus now is on launching a decentralized prover network, enabling any prover to participate and manage workloads from applications built with Brevis." When prompted about potential token launches, Dong stated, "We do not have any details on tokens yet."

Additionally, Brevis is actively developing its "SpaZK Verifiable AI" product, set for release in future phases.

Based in Singapore, Brevis currently employs a team of 12 individuals, with Dong expressing interest in hiring senior marketing and R&D professionals.

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