Optimum
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Optimum applies Random Linear Network Coding (RLNC) to speed up blockchain data propagation, encoding transactions, blocks, and data blobs into resilient packets to reduce latency and bandwidth use. Its tools target Ethereum validators, node operators, and high-performance blockchains, with a network where operators run nodes to monetize bandwidth in a "latency economy."
Also known as mump2p
Founders & leadership
Investors · 9
Funding
SEC filings, press & company announcements- Undisclosed amountSeed RoundJan 2025Source ↗
Source: company announcements and press reports — follow each round's link for the claim.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Optimum operates a data acceleration network that sits alongside existing blockchains to improve how blocks and other critical payloads move across peer-to-peer networks. Its stated approach is to reduce the redundant transmission characteristic of conventional gossip-based propagation, so that data reaches nodes faster and with less bandwidth consumption under load. The company positions the offering as chain-agnostic and complementary to execution-layer scaling work: chains retain their own consensus and execution rules, and integration is described as requiring no protocol rewrites.
The productized form of the network is mump2p, a propagation layer built on Random Linear Network Coding (RLNC) that runs as a sidecar next to a validator's existing consensus client and integrates through an API call. According to the company, it does not replace the consensus client, alter signing setups, or require additional hardware. Optimum states that its technology derives from award-winning MIT research, and it is not itself a blockchain: it has no consensus mechanism and does not process transactions.
Founding story
Optimum's co-founders are Muriel Médard, CEO and NEC Chair at MIT EECS and co-inventor of RLNC; Kishori Konwar, a former Meta senior engineer and scientist, MIT network coding postdoctoral fellow, and former Goldman Sachs quant; and Kent Lin, who leads business development, tokenomics, and fundraising and was previously a partner at the venture firm GSRV, president of the Harvard Blockchain Club, and founder of the McKinsey Crypto DAO.
Business model
Optimum supplies networking infrastructure to validators, node operators, and blockchain networks, delivered as a sidecar component that integrates with existing clients rather than as a chain or protocol replacement. The company describes integration as permissionless and zero-setup.
Traction
The company reports 40 testnet partners and $24 billion in connected ETH stake, with testnet results on Ethereum's Hoodi network and mainnet benchmarking underway.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, history
Market position
Optimum frames itself as addressing the networking/data-movement layer of blockchain performance, a layer it describes as often overlooked relative to execution and consensus, and as complementary rather than competitive to existing scaling approaches.
Differentiation rests on RLNC-based coded propagation that avoids redundant transmission, no required consensus or protocol changes, chain-agnostic integration, and an academic foundation in MIT network coding research led by RLNC co-inventor Muriel Médard.
Technology
The core technology is Random Linear Network Coding (RLNC), co-invented by CEO Muriel Médard, applied to blockchain data propagation. Optimum's mump2p implementation claims 6-20x faster block and blob delivery and roughly 90-95% bandwidth reduction relative to gossipsub, and reports average block propagation of about 150ms on Ethereum's Hoodi testnet, at least 6x faster than the gossipsub baseline; mainnet benchmarks are described as ongoing.
Go-to-market
Optimum works directly with validators and staking operators, onboarding them through testnet integrations and published documentation, and uses testimonials from staking provider co-founders alongside a validator earnings calculator to demonstrate expected performance gains.
Ethereum and other blockchain validators and node operators seeking improved validator economics, and blockchain networks seeking higher performance ceilings without hardware escalation. Staking infrastructure providers, including Luganodes, are cited as testnet participants.
History
The company describes a trajectory from MIT research lab toward mainnet, with milestones tracked in a public project timeline. Sajida Zouarhi is identified as Optimum's CPO and presented at EthCC[9].
Compiled by commissioned research from 1 cited public sources — 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 — not independently audited.
In the news
▸Research sources · 1
primary sources listed
- Optimumgetoptimum.xyz · web
1 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Optimum do?
- Optimum is a chain-agnostic data acceleration network using RLNC to speed block and payload propagation for validators.
- Who founded Optimum?
- Optimum was founded by Muriel Médard, Kishori Konwar.
- Who are Optimum's investors?
- Optimum's investors include 1kx, Caladan, GSR, Robot Ventures, Triton Capital, 1k(x), AlphaLab Capital, LongHash Ventures and 1 more.