Crypto Platform Subzero Labs Secures $20M to Make Blockchain More Accessible

Crypto platform Subzero Labs raises $20 million in initial funding round to build a blockchain for the ‘real world’ users.

Pantera Capital led the round with participation from Variant of Coinbase Ventures, Hashed, Susquehanna Crypto, Mysten Labs, Fabric Ventures, Mirana Ventures, and more. 

The new funding will help build Rialo, which empowers builders to create and launch internet‑scale decentralized applications without the constraints of legacy network architecture.

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How Subzero Labs is Making Decentralized Apps Useful

Subzero Labs was founded in 2024 by Ade Adepoju and Lu Zhang, who were early engineers at Mysten Labs and contributed to the Sui network. They are both veterans of multiple layer-1 protocols and decentralized applications.

Fast transaction speeds alone are insufficient to make decentralized apps (dApps) truly useful. What’s missing is seamless integration with the real world, which would make dApps more user-friendly and easier to build. Without this, dApps remain clunky, costly, and hard to create.

Adepoju and Zhang recognized this substantial disconnect between network infrastructure and app development goals and sought to address it. They are changing decentralized infrastructure from the ground up, using first-principles thinking to craft a more seamless and efficient experience for developers.

In a world where dozens of existing blockchain projects lack real-world applications, does the world need another one? Adepoju told Fortune.com that he believes we do. “When you actually ask, ‘do we need another one?’ it’s like asking, ‘do we need another iPod?’” he said. “No, we don’t, but we definitely need an iPhone.”

He’s hoping his new blockchain, dubbed Rialo, will be that game-changer. An acronym, Rialo stands for “Rialo isn’t a layer 1.” Layer-1 blockchains are similar to Ethereum, a decentralized network of servers that processes and stores data. Layer 2s are blockchains built on top of layer-1 blockchains. 

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Adepoju says Rialo isn’t a layer 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6. He’s reluctant to compare it to any existing crypto products, but he does say the blockchain is designed for non-crypto developers. It would allow engineers to replicate tools usually implemented outside a blockchain. These include the ability to access information, like a FICO score, elsewhere on the internet without the need for an oracle or outside data provider.

The Team Behind this Project

The platform draws on the founder’s deep technical expertise from both Web2 and Web3. Before partnering to launch Subzero Labs, Zhang built Diem, Meta’s crypto initiative, and large-scale AI/ML infrastructure at Meta and Google, while Adepoju developed distributed systems at Netflix and advanced microchips at AMD. 

The Subzero Labs team has attracted top talent from Meta, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google, TikTok, Citadel, VMware, Solana, EigenLayer, Polkadot, Coinbase, NEAR Protocol, and other industry-leading organizations. 

High-profile investors who participated in the round alongside Pantera Capital were the crypto venture capital company Variant, the venture arm of Coinbase, and the crypto desk of the high-frequency trading firm Susquehanna. Other investors include Hashed, Mysten Labs, Fabric Ventures, Mirana Ventures, and more. 

“Rialo is the only full-stack network for real-world applications – built by leading industry developers for developers,” said Paul Veradittakit, Managing Partner of Pantera Capital. “It’s rare to see such a high concentration of talent to drive this vision. We believe under Ade and Lu’s leadership, the Subzero Labs will deliver the infrastructure that finally empowers developers to create decentralized products that are intuitive, useful, and relevant to everyday users.”

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“What stood out to us was how Rialo makes off-chain interaction feel native — not bolted on,” said Baek Kim, General Partner of Hashed. “With the devnet already demonstrating event-driven execution and native web integrations, we see early signs of a system that can lower the barrier for real-world use cases. Subzero Labs isn’t just optimizing infra — they’re rethinking how developers and external systems actually connect to it,”

“We are excited about the opportunity that comes with the growing range of real world assets.” said Bart Smith, Global Head of Digital Asset Strategy at Susquehanna International Group (SIG).

Main Image: Ade Adepoju and Lu Zhang, Subzero Labs Founders. Image Credit: Subzero Labs