Taiko Labs
Founded 2022 Β· 39 employees on LinkedIn Β· 19 known investors
Taiko is an open, community-driven project focused on scaling Ethereum. It positions itself as a global network supporting decentralized applications (dapps).
Also known as Taiko Β· Taiko Labs
Founders & leadership
Taiko Labs was founded in 2022 by Daniel Wang.
Investors Β· 19
Also in the syndicate Β· 5
Funding
SEC filings, press & company announcements- Undisclosed amountseed financingJun 2023
Generative Ventures (lead), Sequoia China (lead), GGV Capital, GSR, IOSG Ventures
Source β
Source: company announcements and press reports β follow each round's link for the claim.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Taiko Labs develops Taiko, an Ethereum Layer 2 scaling network described as a type-1, general-purpose "based" rollup with no centralized sequencer. The protocol is an Ethereum-equivalent ZK-Rollup supporting all EVM opcodes, with an architecture presented as decentralized, permissionless and secure, allowing developers and users to transact with lower fees without modifying their applications.
The network is accompanied by a DAO, a TAIKO token and a community program. Taiko's published roadmap covers testnet and mainnet DAO governance, based preconfirmations (whitelisted on mainnet, then fully decentralized), the Shasta hard fork targeting improved base fees, 100% ZK coverage and lower costs, an EVM upgrade to Pectra (EIP-7702 account abstraction), sub-second preconfirmation latency, lower finality for fast withdrawals and cross-rollup interoperability, and progress toward Stage 2 rollup classification. Earlier protocol work included the Based Contestable Rollup (BCR) design used in the Katla testnet β a configurable, multi-proof architecture with a contestation mechanism and based sequencing β and a planned Based Booster Rollup (BBR) design intended to address liquidity fragmentation by letting developers deploy on Ethereum and scale natively across L2s.
Founding story
Taiko was founded in 2022 by Daniel Wang (Co-Founder and CEO) and Terence Lam (Co-Founder and COO) to build the first Ethereum-equivalent based rollup, an effort the founders described as a multi-year undertaking.
Business model
Taiko Labs operates a public Ethereum Layer 2 network used by third-party developers and end users, with bridging and swapping entry points on its site, an ecosystem grants program, and community governance through a DAO and the TAIKO token.
Traction
Six testnets with over 1,100,000 unique wallet addresses, 30,000+ proposers and 14,000+ provers; the Katla testnet recorded more than 1.1 million wallet addresses and over 13 million transactions within about a month of launch; over 100 live ecosystem apps and 850,000+ Discord members as of March 2024. The TAIKO token was listed on Revolut and on Binance Futures in 2025.
βΈFull profile β market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Positioned among Ethereum Layer 2 zkEVM projects as a type-1, fully Ethereum-equivalent based rollup; at the time of its Series A it was described as having the largest Discord community in the rollups space with 850,000+ members and over 100 live apps in its ecosystem.
Based sequencing with no centralized sequencer, full Ethereum equivalence at the type-1 zkEVM level, a multi-proof contestable rollup design, and community/DAO ownership rather than a centrally operated network.
Technology
An Ethereum-equivalent (type 1) ZK-Rollup supporting all EVM opcodes, using based sequencing rather than a centralized sequencer, a multi-proof Based Contestable Rollup design with contestation, ZK proof coverage of proposed blocks, based preconfirmations, and a defense-in-depth proving system. Planned work includes the Based Booster Rollup design, a Pectra EVM upgrade with EIP-7702 account abstraction, and a formal specification for the preconfirmation protocol.
Go-to-market
Community-driven distribution through open testnets, permissionless participation as proposers and provers, an ecosystem grants program (nearly $30 million allocated in its second round), developer tooling and bridge/swap entry points, DAO governance, industry events such as the Based Rollup Summit, and partnerships including a collaboration with the K11 Art Foundation in Seoul.
Developers building decentralized applications on Ethereum, node operators, proposers and provers, and end users seeking lower-cost Ethereum transactions.
Geography
Its Series A announcement was datelined New York, London and Singapore; investors highlighted expansion support across Asia and the Middle East from hubs in Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong, and the company held events in San Francisco, Cannes and Seoul.
History
Founded in 2022, Taiko executed six testnets involving over 1,100,000 unique wallets, 30,000+ proposers and 14,000+ provers, including the alpha-3 testnet, the Eldfell L3 (alpha-4) testnet, and the Katla testnet launched in early 2024 ahead of mainnet. Financing came in two seed rounds in 2022-2023 totaling $22 million and a $15 million Series A closed in March 2024, bringing total capital raised to $37 million ahead of mainnet launch. In 2025 the project deployed its DAO on testnet, achieved 100% ZK coverage for Taiko-proposed blocks, held Based Rollup Summits in San Francisco and Cannes, saw TAIKO listed on Revolut and Binance Futures, moved DAO governance to mainnet and shipped whitelisted preconfirmations on mainnet. In June 2026 the network was attacked by a party that forged proofs and finalized a fake L2 state on Ethereum, withdrawing roughly $1.75 million from the canonical bridge and ERC20 token vault; the team published a postmortem describing detection, response and remediation.
Risks & controversies
In June 2026 an attacker forged proofs and finalized a fraudulent Layer 2 state on Ethereum, withdrawing approximately $1.75 million from Taiko's canonical bridge and ERC20 token vault; the company published a postmortem on detection, response and fixes. Certain investments announced in the Series A remained subject to regulatory approval.
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.
Timeline Β· 12
launches, deals, and filingsAn attacker forged proofs and finalized a fake version of Taiko's Layer 2 state on Ethereum, withdrawing roughly US$1.75 million from the canonical bridge and the ERC20 token vault. Taiko Labs published a postmortem on July 23.
$1.8M source β
Series A led by Lightspeed Faction, Hashed, Generative Ventures and Token Bay Capital, bringing total capital raised to US$37 million across three rounds.
$15M source β
Taiko launched its sixth testnet, Katla, the first to use the Based Contestable Rollup design with contestation and based sequencing, serving as the foundation for mainnet launch.
The Block reported Taiko Labs raised $22 million in two seed rounds: a $10 million first round led by Sequoia China that closed in Q3 2022, and a $12 million second round led by Generative Ventures. Valuation was not disclosed.
$22M source β
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
βΈResearch sources Β· 4
primary sources listed
- Taiko Labstaiko.xyz Β· web
4 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Taiko Labs do?
- Taiko Labs builds Taiko, a type-1 Ethereum-equivalent based rollup that scales Ethereum without a centralized sequencer.
- Who founded Taiko Labs?
- Taiko Labs was founded by Daniel Wang in 2022.
- Who are Taiko Labs's investors?
- Taiko Labs's investors include Bollinger Investment Group, Faction, Generative Ventures, IOSG Ventures, Mapleblock Capital, Sancus Ventures, Token Bay Capital, Wintermute and 6 more.