Blockchain Startup Rome Raises $9M to Serve Ethereum Layer-2s Through Solana

Hack VC, Polygon Ventures, HashKey, Portal Ventures, Bankless Ventures, Robot VC, LBank, Anagram, TRGC, Perridon Ventures, and several angel investors, among them Anatoly Yakovenko, Nick White, Santiago Santos, Comfy Capital, Austin Federa, and Jason Yanowitz, have announced their participation in providing financing for the project, as mentioned in a press release that was exclusively revealed to CoinDesk.

As a researcher studying the latest developments in technology, I’ve come across an exciting announcement from Rome, a pioneering project founded by Anil Kumar and Sattvik Kansal. They intend to establish Solana as the robust foundation for both shared sequencers and data availability (DA). This means that Solana will be responsible for managing these technologies in a unified and efficient manner.

As a researcher studying the intricacies of blockchain technology, I’d describe a sequencer in Ethereum’s layer-2 solutions as follows: A sequencer is the crucial element that gathers transactions and sends them to the fundamental Ethereum blockchain for eventual settlement. Some industry experts advocate for decentralized sequencers to mitigate potential single points of failure.

In an interview with CoinDesk, Kumar expressed that establishing a shared sequencer requires significant time and effort, making it essential for such a component to function independently. He further stated, “Given that perspective, among Bitcoin, Cosmos, and Ethereum, Solana stands out as the most suitable state chain.”

According to Kumar, the project intends to facilitate “all-or-nothing” transactions between Ethereum layer-2 networks. This means that various steps of a transaction are executed on distinct blockchains. If any stage encounters an issue, the entire transaction is aborted, and the user incurs only the minimal cost of a Solana transaction, which is usually quite affordable.

As a blockchain analyst, I’d rephrase it this way: I’m observing an emerging trend in the crypto space, with Rome being among the projects aiming to contribute by developing shared sequencers or Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). This is part of the broader context of “modular” blockchains, where specific functions that were previously managed exclusively by Ethereum’s main chain are now being handled by alternative initiatives.

As a crypto investor, I’m excited about the developments in the Ethereum layer-2 space, specifically projects like Metis and their decentralized sequencer. Metis is taking a unique approach by allowing users to submit transactions off-chain, which are then batched and executed in an efficient manner on the Ethereum mainnet.

As a blockchain analyst, I’d rephrase it this way: Last month, the NEAR Foundation, an organization backing the NEAR Protocol, a layer-1 alternative blockchain, announced the launch of Nuffle Labs with an initial investment of $13 million. The goal for Nuffle Labs is to develop Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) and related tools.

Avail, another innovative project, revealed in April its intention to integrate their proprietary network into five different Ethereum layer-2 solutions: Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon, StarkWare, and zkSync.

Starting this month, Rome intends to make its previously closed network accessible for developers. By the end of 2024, there are plans to set up a testing network. The official launch of the network is predicted to occur in mid-2025.