Aurora, an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) designed to scale decentralized applications (DApp) built on the Near protocol, has announced a $12-million debut funding round.
The round included over 100 venture capital investors, including Pantera Capital and Electric Capital.
According to an official statement, Aurora will use the funds to expand cross-chain capabilities beyond its current offering, in addition to hiring specialist developers to support the growth of Ethereum scaling.
The scaling solution seeks to facilitate interoperability between blockchains through its EVM connection and multichain bridge, granting developers the accessibility to launch DApps with multichain functionality. Aurora has also revealed it is in the development phase of building a price oracle, data indexer, an automated market maker exchange and block explorer, among other features.
The EVM is a blockchain-based computer engine at the core of Ethereum’s operating system, responsible for transaction execution, smart contract deployment and other operating functionalities, in addition to enabling developers to build DApps on its blockchain.
It was recently announced that blockchain data explorer Etherscan has partnered with Aurora to integrate its Ethereum-exclusive service to participants of the Near protocol. Alex Shevchenko, CEO of Aurora, said:
“Our goal at Aurora has been to create a future where the obvious gaps between blockchains, developers and users are seamlessly bridged. The success of this funding reinforces Aurora’s appeal among our community and our objective to bring scaling solutions across the crypto ecosystem.”
Related: Near Protocol, Algorand and PowerPool rebound while Bitcoin consolidates
In July this year, it was announced that Crypto.com deployed its proof-of-authority EVM testnet enabling developers and builders to transfer their Ethereum-built projects cross-chain to other ecosystems compatible with the EVM.