Vlayer

VLayer is a verifiable data infrastructure company founded in 2024 by Hubert Rachwalski Von Rejchwald and Marek Kirejczyk, with operations based in Warsaw, London, and the US. The firm is positioned at the intersection of Web2 and Web3, addressing the critical limitation of smart contracts' inability to directly access and verify real-world, off-chain data. VLayer's core offering is a protocol that enables developers to integrate data from sources like web pages, APIs, and emails directly into Ethereum smart contracts in the form of verifiable, trustless claims.

The company's technological foundation rests on advanced cryptography, specifically Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) and Multi-Party Computation (MPC). This allows for the verification of data authenticity and privacy without relying on centralized oracles or exposing sensitive underlying information. VLayer productizes ZKPs into accessible functions for Solidity developers, effectively lowering the barrier to entry for building sophisticated decentralized applications (dApps). The infrastructure introduces features like "Time Travel" for accessing historical on-chain data, "Teleport" for cross-chain contract execution, "Web Proofs" (zkTLS) for verifying web content, and "Email Proofs" (ZK Email) for using email content as on-chain inputs.

The founding team's background provides a complementary skill set. CEO Hubert Rachwalski's experience co-founding the AI-powered fraud prevention startup Nethone highlighted the bottlenecks of centralized data systems, steering him towards decentralized solutions. Co-founder Marek Kirejczyk previously founded Ethworks and created Waffle, a widely-used testing framework for Solidity, giving him deep expertise in developer tools and the Ethereum ecosystem. This combined experience underpins VLayer's dual focus on solving industry-wide data integration problems and ensuring an optimal developer experience.

VLayer operates on a B2B model, targeting dApp developers across sectors such as DeFi, Real World Assets (RWA), and gaming. The company provides the tools for these developers to build applications with capabilities like undercollateralized lending based on private credit scores, cross-chain DAO governance, and privacy-preserving identity verification. In November 2024, VLayer announced a significant $10 million pre-seed funding round, structured as a mix of SAFE and SAFT agreements. The round was led by prominent venture capital firms including a16z crypto, Credo Ventures, and BlockTower Capital, with participation from angel investors from organizations like Aztec Protocol and World. The company is currently in an open alpha phase, onboarding its initial developer partners, with a full testnet, mainnet, and potential token launch anticipated for 2025 or later.

Keywords: verifiable data, zero-knowledge proofs, ZKP, web3 infrastructure, smart contracts, Solidity, dApp development, on-chain data, off-chain data, zkTLS, ZK Email, cross-chain, decentralized applications, data verification, cryptographic proofs, blockchain development, Ethereum, MPC, real-world assets, RWA, DeFi, DAO governance, developer tools, Hubert Rachwalski, Marek Kirejczyk, a16z, Credo Ventures, BlockTower Capital