Smart contract platform Axiom raises $20M in Series A round

Axiom presents an innovative technique for accessing verified data on-chain using zero-knowledge technology. Axiom, a smart contract infrastructure business, has raised $20 million in a Series A fundraising round led by Paradigm and Standard Crypto, with participation from Robot Ventures and Ethereal Ventures funds. 

It intends to utilize the funds to hire developers and hasten the development of its first product, according to a Jan. 25 release. The startup introduces a novel way to access verified data on-chain. Instead of using typical consensus procedures in which all nodes agree on a state of data, it employs zero-knowledge cryptography.

 “On-chain applications have adapted to the exorbitant cost of data by removing features or carefully crafting contracts to optimize data usage,” stated Axiom. Moreover, the protocol states that this difficulty forces developers to structure smart contracts in a complex design because they are unable to exploit data at scale.

Axiom’s Zero-Knowledge Technology Revolutionizes On-Chain Data Management

With zero-knowledge technology, one can demonstrate the veracity of a claim without providing any specifics. In other words, it permits a verification process while keeping the computation’s input data secret. Axiom says it can enable on-chain apps to manage more data at a reduced cost by utilizing ZK cryptography.

using the protocol’s mainnet deployment in 2023, developers will be able to communicate data using zero-knowledge proofs, execute off-chain computations, and access historical Ethereum data. “We believe the demand to store, access, and operate over authenticated data will only grow over time and that cryptography and blockchains are the correct tools to serve this demand,” the statement states.

Applications of ZK proofs are becoming more widespread in several industries, including voting systems, banking, healthcare, and energy. Numerous cryptocurrency companies are now developing the technology to scale and maintain privacy. Additionally, for the Ethereum ecosystem, Polygon, for example, announced its Polygon zkEVM in March 2023. This technology enables off-chain batching of thousands of transactions with cryptographic proof that requires very little data.