Router Protocol, a project aimed at connecting multiple blockchains, has raised a $4.1 million funding round.
Router, which raised $485,000 of seed funding last year, now has the backing of Coinbase Ventures, QCP, De-Fi Capital, Polygon, Wintermute, Shima, Woodstock and Bison Ventures.
As the blockchain universe matures, liquidity is at risk of being fragmented across a raft of chains such as Avalanche, Polygon, Solana, Terra and Algorand.
“Rapid growth of various blockchains means the need of the hour is the ability for these to talk to each other through bridges and other forms of connectivity,” said Router CEO Ramani Ramachandran. “Our unique selling point is that we can do EVM [Ethereum Virtual Machine] and non-EVM chains, as well as layer 1 and layer 2 networks.”
Read more: ‘Bridge Szn’ Continues With $2M Raise for Stablecoin Connector Symbiosis
When it comes to liquidity bridges, the “big elephant in the room” is security, says Ramachandran. Hacks are almost a rite of passage in this space, and any system that sets out to connect networks is only as secure as the weakest link in the protocols on either side.
Router’s precaution is to connect only major, well-established blockchains, as well as completing a “five or six audits” on its code.
