EPNS
43 employees on LinkedIn Β· 44 known investors
Push Chain (formerly Push Protocol/EPNS) is a Layer 1 blockchain designed for "universal apps," letting developers build and deploy once while onboarding users from any chain without bridges and with gas payable in any token. It offers high throughput, sub-second finality, and supports cross-chain products such as the PUSD universal stablecoin and the Zappi cross-chain stablecoin payments app.</parameter> <parameter name="founders">[{"full_name": "Harsh Rajat", "title": "Founder & Project Lead"}, {"full_name": "Richa"}]
Also known as EPNS Β· Ethereum Push Notification Service Β· Push Chain Β· Push Protocol
Founders & leadership
Investors Β· 44
Also in the syndicate Β· 30
Funding
SEC filings, press & company announcements$10.1M disclosed across 1 of 6 rounds Β· 2020β2022
- $10.1MSeries AApr 2022 Β· 3 sources
Jump Crypto (lead), A.Capital, Alpha Wave Capital, DCX Ventures, Harmony Foundation, iSeedVC, ParaFi, Polygon Studios, Signum Capital, Sino Global Capital, Tiger Global, TRGC, Wintermute, Woodstock, Zebpay, Zee Prime Capital
Source β - Undisclosed amountSeedMar 2021Source β
Source: company announcements and press reports β follow each round's link for the claim.
Valuation Β· disclosed
Disclosed eventsSource: SEC prospectus filings, and round valuations the company or its investors disclosed β follow each entry's link for the claim.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026EPNS (Ethereum Push Notification Service, later Push Protocol and now Push Chain) began as a decentralized communication protocol for Web3. The protocol lets smart contracts, dApps and traditional servers send notifications addressed to user wallet addresses, which can be surfaced in any crypto wallet, mobile app, browser extension or dApp. It operates on a permissionless model with two participant types: Channels, which are individuals or organizations issuing communications, and Subscribers, who opt in to receive them. Users receiving notifications can also earn crypto rewards, and protocol fees can be split with wallets and infrastructure providers that build on top of it, governed by holders of the native PUSH token.
The company has since extended into a Layer 1 blockchain, Push Chain, positioned as a shared-state chain for "universal apps." Developers deploy once and users from any chain β EVM or non-EVM β can interact using their existing wallets and tokens, with gas payable in any token and no bridging. Advertised features include full EVM compatibility, universal smart contracts for cross-chain multi-step flows, wallet abstraction (including social login and email), universal fee abstraction, and a universal execution layer allowing users on different chains to transact with the same application. Stated performance characteristics are 4.2k TPS, one-second native block time and instant/sub-second native finality; a "state access" capability for reading account and state data from other chains is listed as coming soon.
Products built on Push Chain include PUSD, a universal stablecoin backed 1:1 that aggregates fragmented USDC and USDT liquidity across chains to enable bridgeless cross-chain asset movement, and Zappi, an any-chain-to-any-chain stablecoin payments application aimed at freelancers, merchants and businesses.
Founding story
EPNS was founded in 2020 (reported as early 2020, and specifically April 2020) by Harsh Rajat and Richa Joshi. The founders argued that blockchains lacked a decentralized communication layer, leaving users unaware of events such as loan liquidations, NFT availability, DAO governance proposals, gaming auctions or domain expirations. The project's early momentum came out of hackathons β including HackMoney β and grants before its token generation event.
Business model
The protocol is infrastructure for developers and applications: dApps, protocols and services integrate the communication layer and, more recently, build and deploy applications on Push Chain. The native PUSH token governs core protocol functionality and lets holders vote on protocol features. The protocol also splits generated fees among the crypto wallets and infrastructure that build on top of it via decentralized governance.
Fees generated by the protocol are split among wallets and infrastructure providers integrating it, using decentralized governance.
Traction
Since mainnet launch in mid-January 2022, the protocol had powered 4 million notifications to more than 44,000 subscribers and was working with around 80 projects as of April 2022, with a stated target of one million users by year-end. Headcount was 30 at that time, with plans to reach over 60.
Latest developments
In 2025 the company introduced PUSD, a universal stablecoin backed 1:1 that unifies USDC and USDT liquidity across chains (May 28), and Zappi, an any-chain-to-any-chain stablecoin payments app built on Push Chain and powered by PUSD (June 4). On June 25 it announced completion of a Hacken security audit for Push Chain, with a $100,000 bug bounty to follow.
βΈFull profile β market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
EPNS described itself as the first decentralized notification protocol and an early mover in Web3 communications, a layer Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal characterized as previously missing. Coverage in CoinDesk and other outlets has tracked its notification protocol, token-gated group chats with Unstoppable Domains, its BNB Chain launch and the announcement of its own Layer 1.
The notification protocol was positioned as a platform-agnostic, permissionless, opt-in communication layer tied to wallet addresses rather than to centralized channels such as Twitter, Discord or Telegram, with rewards for subscribers and multichain services at free transaction cost. Push Chain is differentiated from bridges and messaging layers by shared state: one deployment serves users on any chain with their existing wallets and tokens, with fees abstracted away.
Technology
Push Chain is described as a shared-state Layer 1 that is 100% EVM compatible and requires no on-chain code changes to make an existing app universal. Core components include universal smart contracts, universal validators that trigger, validate and complete transactions across chains, wallet abstraction supporting any chain's wallet plus social login and email, universal fee abstraction allowing gas payment in any token without bridging, and a universal execution layer for atomic, composable cross-chain applications. Claimed performance is 4.2k TPS, one-second block time and instant native finality. The earlier notification protocol stores encrypted notification data on-chain (directly or indirectly), allowing delivery through both centralized and decentralized carriers. A PUSH ERC-20 token contract exists on Ethereum.
Go-to-market
Growth has come through hackathons and grants, direct integrations with prominent protocols and media (ENS, CoinDesk, Snapshot, Oasis, Uniswap, Decentraland, MakerDAO, Gitcoin, Polygon, dYdX, Bancor, Aragon, Notional Finance, mStable), developer documentation and a knowledge base, community channels such as Discord, and progressive expansion to additional blockchains.
Developers and Web3 applications β dApps, protocols, smart contracts and traditional servers β plus wallets and infrastructure providers that integrate the protocol, and end users who opt in to receive notifications or transact through universal apps. Zappi targets freelancers, merchants and businesses.
Geography
Reported as Mumbai-based, with an office opened in Dubai; the March 2021 funding release was issued from Road Town, British Virgin Islands.
History
After forming in 2020, EPNS raised a $750,000 seed round in December 2020 and a $660,000 extension announced in March 2021, alongside a public PUSH token sale planned for April 2021. Its Ethereum mainnet launched in mid-January 2022, followed by a $10.1 million Series A announced in April 2022 at an average valuation of $131 million, taking total funding to $11.42 million. The company then pursued a multi-chain strategy, launching on Polygon and later BNB Chain, and rebranded to Push Protocol. It subsequently announced Push Chain, its own Layer 1, and in 2025 introduced PUSD (May) and Zappi (June) and completed a Hacken security audit (June).
Risks & controversies
The Series A was structured as a token round with a 9β12 month lock-in for investors and vesting over a further 24β30 months. Push Chain describes cross-chain execution as a complex system; a security audit was completed and a bug bounty announced as forthcoming.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources β announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed β not independently audited.
Timeline Β· 13
launches, deals, and filingsPush Chain completed a security audit by Hacken, with a $100,000 bug bounty program announced as launching soon.
$100K source β
Any-chain-to-any-chain stablecoin payments app for freelancers, merchants and businesses, powered by PUSD and built on Push Chain.
PUSD unifies fragmented USDC and USDT liquidity from any chain to enable bridgeless cross-chain asset movement; every PUSD is backed 1:1.
Push Protocol, a decentralized communications protocol for Web3, launched on BNB Chain, as noted in media coverage highlighted by the company.
Unstoppable Domains launched badge/token-gated group chat for username holders in collaboration with Push Protocol, aimed at reducing misinformation and scams.
Push announced its own Layer 1 blockchain to unify blockchain communication and transactions, per media coverage cited by the company.
Token round at an average valuation of $131 million, with participation from Tiger Global, ParaFi, Sino Global Capital, Polygon Studios, Woodstock, DCX Ventures, Alpha Wave Capital and others; 9-12 month lock-in and 24-30 month vesting.
$10.1M source β
EPNS said it would launch on Polygon, followed by Binance, Harmony and Solana by year-end, planned to double headcount from 30 to over 60, and had opened an office in Dubai.
EPNS launched its notification protocol on Ethereum mainnet in mid-January 2022, later described as a multi-chain protocol.
The public sale of the PUSH governance token was expected in April 2021.
Press release stating proceeds were raised in two rounds: $750K in December plus $660K with participation from VC investors including Binance Labs, True Ventures, IOSG, Bixin, Bitscale, LD Capital, Momentum 6 and BR Capital.
$1.4M source β
EPNS was a nominee for the ET Startup Awards 2021 in the top innovator category.
Seed investment from angels and HNIs including Balaji Srinivasan, Kenneth Ng (Ethereum Foundation), Scott Moore (Gitcoin) and Mariano Conti (formerly MakerDAO).
$750K source β
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
βΈResearch sources Β· 8
primary sources listed
- EPNSepns.io Β· web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does EPNS do?
- Push Chain (formerly EPNS/Push Protocol) is a Layer 1 blockchain for universal apps usable from any chain with any wallet.
- Who founded EPNS?
- EPNS was founded by Richa Joshi.
- Who are EPNS's investors?
- EPNS's investors include Bixin Capital, Bixin Ventures, Black Dragon, BR Capital, Narcissus Ventures, iSeed, Jump Crypto, Polygon Studios and 6 more.
- How much funding has EPNS raised?
- EPNS has disclosed $10.1M raised across 1 of its 6 known rounds.