Kelp DAO
3 min readMay 22, 2024

We’re thrilled to announce the successful closure of our first private sale round for $9 million, propelling us closer to our vision of making restaking more accessible and beneficial for users. It was led by SCB Limited (a proprietary trading firm based in the Bahamas) and Laser Digital (the digital asset subsidiary of Nomura Group), with additional backing from an array of esteemed funds and angel investors. 17+ reputed capital funds, 10+ notable angel investors and 6+ key community voices joined this round.

Pioneering liquid restaking solutions

Launched in December 2023, Kelp’s Liquid Restaked Token, rsETH, was the first LRT to hit the Ethereum mainnet. This cemented us as the pioneer of liquid restaking solutions built atop EigenLayer. Currently, Kelp enables liquid restaking across the Ethereum mainnet and 8 L2s, including Arbitrum, Optimism, Blast, Linea, Base, and Scroll.

Participating round leads capital funds

Kelp’s first funding round was led by SCB Limited and Laser Digital, who collectively invested $3.5 million. SCB Limited is a proprietary trading firm and an active participant in the digital asset ecosystem. Backed by Nomura, Laser Digital delivers scalable, robust opportunities across trading, asset management, and ventures.

Participating capital funds

We’re thrilled to have the support from reputed funds, including Bankless Ventures, Hypersphere, Draper Dragon, DACM, Cypher Capital, ArkStream, Cluster Capital, GSR, Longhash, Side Door Ventures, NOIA Capital, HTX Ventures, Avid3, ViaBTC Capital, DWF Ventures, Coinseeker, Tulipa Capital, Web3Port and many others.

Participating angel investors

We are honored to have the support from several notable angel investors in the community, including Scott Moore (Co-founder, Gitcoin), Alex Karl Svanevik (CEO, Nansen), Sam Kazemian (Co-founder, Frax Finance), Marc Zeller (Aave Chan Initiative), Amrit Kumar (COO, Altlayer), Anthony Lesoismein (Co-founder of Swissborg), Mr. Block (Mr. Block), Winslow Strong (Co-founder of Cluster Capital) and others.

Participating key community voices

We extend our gratitude to the key community voices who have joined our journey and are set to enhance our visibility across regions. Some of them are AshCrypto, SanyuanVC, Cryptodiffer, Hashuer, CryptoBanter, Momentum6 and others.

Our commitment and future roadmap

With over $950 million in Total Value Locked (TVL) and more than 45,000+ active restakers, this funding underscores the confidence leading crypto investors have in our vision and commitment to enhancing the restaking landscape.

Dheeraj Borra, Co-founder at Kelp, shared, “This fundraise not only fuels our operational capabilities but also validates the vision we have for Kelp, which is now shared by our investors. We’re excited to scale our solutions and enhance user experience even further with their support.” This enthusiasm is echoed by Amitej Gajjala, Co-founder at Kelp.

Empowered by this funding, we are all set for dynamic growth and continued innovation. We are dedicated to leading the evolution of restaking across ecosystems and providing our users with scalable solutions.

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Written by Kelp DAO

Kelp is a collective DAO designed to unlock liquidity, DeFi and higher rewards for restaked assets.

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