Kelp DAO, a pioneering liquid restaking platform, announced today the successful closure of a $9 million private sale round. This significant milestone propels Kelp DAO’s mission to advance decentralized finance (DeFi) and reshape the restaking landscape.

The investment round was spearheaded by SCB Limited, a proprietary trading firm based in the Bahamas, and Laser Digital, the digital asset arm of Nomura Global, with a combined contribution of $3.5 million. Additional investors included prominent names such as 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, among others.

These new funds will build upon Kelp DAO’s existing foundation, which boasts over $850 million in Total Value Locked (TVL) and more than 40,000 active restakers. The capital infusion will be directed towards enhancing the platform’s capabilities, expanding to other ecosystems such as Solana and Bitcoin, and driving further innovation in restaking solutions.

The funding round attracted significant attention from global investors and key figures in the crypto community, including Scott, Co-founder of Gitcoin; Alex, CEO of Nansen; Sam K, Co-founder of Frax; Marc Zeller, Aave Chan Initiative; Saurabh Sharma, Jump Crypto; Amrit, COO of Altlayer; Anthony, Co-founder of Swissborg; and Winslow Strong of Mr. Block.

Dheeraj Borra, Co-founder of Kelp DAO, emphasized the importance of this funding round, stating, “This fundraise propels our expansion in the market and sharpens our focus on building customer-centric solutions. It’s truly thrilling to have our investors share that vision.” Both Borra and Co-founder Amitej Gajjala expressed gratitude for the investor support, which is crucial for scaling Kelp DAO’s restaking solutions to new heights.

Jez Mohideen, CEO of Laser Digital, expressed strong support for the project, saying, “We are very excited to support Kelp DAO and the passionate team in its journey towards building innovative restaking infrastructure solutions.”

Jack Platts, Co-founder of Hypersphere Ventures, also shared his enthusiasm, noting, “We’re excited by the prospect of restaking enabling more developer experimentation and use cases. Kelp’s proven team and focus on user experience is playing a key role in this restaking’s early success. We look forward to the team executing on its vision of enhancing yields and optionality for ETH stakers.”

Kelp DAO is a leading liquid restaking protocol with over $850 million in assets under management across 45,000+ restakers. The platform's liquid restaked token (LRT) was the first to launch on the Ethereum mainnet, pioneering the integration of liquid staking tokens. Currently, Kelp DAO facilitates liquid restaking for native ETH and LSTs across Ethereum mainnet and eight Layer 2 networks.

Backed by Nomura, Laser Digital is dedicated to providing scalable, robust opportunities across trading, asset management, and ventures. The firm operates under high standards of risk management, compliance, and commercial viability, driven by a commitment to responsible crypto innovation.

The successful closure of this $9 million private sale marks a significant step forward for Kelp DAO. With strong financial backing and support from prominent industry figures, Kelp DAO is well-positioned to continue its pioneering work in the DeFi and restaking sectors, delivering enhanced solutions and greater value to the crypto community.

Stay updated with Kelp DAO’s latest developments by following their official channels and website as they embark on this exciting new phase of growth and innovation.