Offchain labs
also invests Β· investor profile10 known investors
Offchain provides enterprise infrastructure and blockchain products for the programmable economy, including scaling solutions, consensus clients, and smart account infrastructure. The company serves institutions and enterprises seeking to build and operate production-grade onchain financial systems.
Also known as Offchain Β· Offchain Labs
Founders & leadership
Investors Β· 10
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Offchain Labs, which presents itself publicly as "Offchain," is a blockchain infrastructure company founded in 2018 out of Princeton University by Ed Felten, Steven Goldfeder and Harry Kalodner. The three co-founders developed the Arbitrum technology while at Princeton and published a paper describing it in 2018; the company was formed to scale Ethereum. Ed Felten is a former deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer and retired Princeton professor of computer science and public affairs; Steven Goldfeder, who holds a Princeton Ph.D. and has served as CEO, and Felten co-authored the textbook Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies.
The company's core product is Arbitrum, an "optimistic rollup" Ethereum scaling solution. Arbitrum One mainnet was released publicly on August 31, 2021, after a developer beta launched in May 2021; its EVM compatibility allows projects to deploy without altering their contracts. In August 2022 the company introduced Arbitrum Nova, a chain aimed at gaming and decentralized social applications, which Reddit adopted for its Ethereum-based Community Points system. In October 2022 Offchain Labs acquired Prysmatic Labs, one of the core engineering teams behind Ethereum's transition to proof-of-stake and the creator of the Prysm consensus-layer client.
Today the company markets an interconnected product suite consisting of Arbitrum (a high-throughput, finance-oriented platform secured by Ethereum), Prysm (an Ethereum consensus client the company says powers approximately 25% of the network's consensus nodes), and ZeroDev (smart account infrastructure). Alongside products it offers Enterprise Services β custom, enterprise-grade environments including dedicated custom chains addressing industry privacy and regulatory requirements β plus a research arm branded Offchain Labs, a partner studio and venture arm called Tandem, and Onchain Labs, described as an innovation engine for the Arbitrum ecosystem that develops experimental applications.
Founding story
Offchain Labs was founded in 2018 by Ed Felten, Steven Goldfeder and Harry Kalodner. The three developed the Arbitrum technology while at Princeton University and published a paper on it in 2018, then created the company with the stated mission of scaling Ethereum and bringing it to a broader public.
Business model
The company combines protocol and infrastructure software (Arbitrum, Prysm, ZeroDev) with enterprise engineering and advisory services, bespoke chain design for institutional clients, and a venture/partner studio arm (Tandem) that makes capital investments and provides strategic support to blockchain projects.
Not disclosed in the available sources; the company states it "doesn't just sell software" and offers enterprise services, bespoke infrastructure design and strategic advisory, alongside venture investments through Tandem.
Traction
Arbitrum One attracted multiple projects following its May 2021 developer beta and August 2021 public mainnet launch. Reddit built its Community Points rewards layer-2 rollup on Arbitrum technology using Arbitrum Nova. The company states Prysm powers approximately 25% of Ethereum consensus nodes and that billions in value move over Arbitrum. Tandem publishes partner case studies and testimonials from Succinct and Fhenix.
Latest developments
Company communications highlight the integration of ZK proofs into Arbitrum for faster, multi-prover scaling and the rollout of Timeboost, which changes transaction ordering via an express lane with implications for MEV and chain owners. The corporate brand now spans Offchain Labs (research), Enterprise Services, Tandem (venture arm and partner studio) and Onchain Labs (Arbitrum ecosystem innovation engine).
βΈFull profile β market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Described as the originator of one of the leading Ethereum scaling technologies; Prysm is characterized as Ethereum's most popular consensus-layer client and is said to power roughly 25% of network consensus nodes. The 2022 Prysmatic Labs acquisition was reported as underscoring the influence of layer-2 scaling platforms in the Ethereum ecosystem.
Combines protocol-level research originating from academic work on optimistic rollups and interactive fraud proofs with an integrated stack spanning consensus clients, a layer-2 network, and account abstraction, plus bespoke enterprise chain design and advisory rather than software alone.
Technology
Arbitrum is an optimistic rollup scaling layer for Ethereum that is EVM-compatible, so contracts can be deployed without modification; the company describes ongoing integration of ZK proofs for faster, multi-prover scaling, and Timeboost, a mechanism affecting transaction ordering with an "express lane" relevant to MEV and chain owners. Prysm is an Ethereum consensus-layer client written substantially in Go. ZeroDev provides smart account infrastructure intended to abstract transaction complexity for end users. The founders' underlying research includes interactive fraud proofs for optimistic rollups.
Go-to-market
Positions itself as a strategic infrastructure partner to large enterprises, soliciting engagements via "partner with us" and discovery-call calls to action on its site. It pairs open, widely used ecosystem software (Arbitrum, Prysm) with paid enterprise engagements, and uses Tandem partnerships and case studies with projects such as Succinct and Fhenix as ecosystem-building channels.
Enterprises and institutions building production-grade onchain financial systems, including firms with industry-specific privacy and regulatory requirements; also blockchain project teams and founders supported through Tandem, and developers deploying on Arbitrum.
Geography
Not stated in the available sources beyond its Princeton University, U.S. origins.
History
Founded in 2018 at Princeton. A developer beta of Arbitrum launched in May 2021, and Arbitrum One mainnet was opened to the public on August 31, 2021, alongside the disclosure of a $120 million Series B round. In August 2022 the company unveiled Arbitrum Nova, targeted at gaming and decentralized social applications, and Reddit launched its Community Points rewards system as a layer-2 rollup built with Arbitrum technology. On October 12, 2022 Offchain Labs announced the acquisition of Prysmatic Labs, the team behind the Prysm Ethereum consensus client. The company subsequently expanded into a broader product and services portfolio branded "Offchain," spanning Arbitrum, Prysm, ZeroDev, enterprise services, the Tandem venture arm and Onchain Labs.
Risks & controversies
No controversies are reported in the available sources. One noted investor in the 2021 Series B was Alameda Research.
Compiled by commissioned research from 4 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.
Competitors Β· 4
by search overlap
Companies competing with Offchain labs for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline Β· 6
launches, deals, and filingsOffchain Labs announced it was acquiring Prysmatic Labs, a core engineering team behind Ethereum's proof-of-stake transition and creator of the Prysm consensus-layer client.
Reddit launched its own layer-2 rollup for its Ethereum-based Community Points rewards system using Arbitrum technology, citing decentralization, developer-friendliness and ecosystem support.
Offchain Labs introduced Arbitrum Nova, a chain designed for gaming and decentralized social applications.
Series B round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with participation from Polychain Capital, Pantera Capital, Alameda Research and Mark Cuban.
$120M source β
Offchain Labs announced the public release of the Arbitrum One mainnet, an EVM-compatible optimistic rollup allowing projects to deploy without altering contracts.
Arbitrum One entered beta for developers in May 2021 ahead of its public mainnet release.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
βΈResearch sources Β· 4
primary sources listed
- Offchain labsoffchainlabs.com Β· web
4 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Offchain labs do?
- Blockchain infrastructure company behind Arbitrum, the Prysm Ethereum consensus client, and ZeroDev smart account infrastructure.
- Who founded Offchain labs?
- Offchain labs was founded by Steven Goldfeder.
- Who are Offchain labs's investors?
- Offchain labs's investors include Ballistic Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, DeFiance Capital, Fenbushi Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Pantera Capital, Puzzle Ventures, Redpoint Ventures and 2 more.