Blockchain Infrastructure Project Eclipse Raises $15M to Build ‘Universal Layer-2’

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Blockchain infrastructure continues to evolve at a rapid pace, with new projects emerging to solve scalability, interoperability, and developer accessibility challenges. One such project making waves is Eclipse, a next-generation blockchain scaling solution that recently secured **$15 million in funding** to advance its vision of a “universal layer-2” network. This capital injection, composed of a $6 million pre-seed round and a $9 million seed round, underscores growing confidence in Eclipse’s mission to redefine how rollups interact with multiple layer-1 blockchains.

Funding Backed by Industry Leaders

The $9 million seed round was co-led by prominent crypto investors Tribe Capital and Tabiya, the latter founded by former Binance executives. Additional participation came from respected firms including Infinity Ventures Crypto, Soma Capital, Struck Crypto, and CoinList, highlighting broad industry support.

Prior to this, Eclipse raised $6 million in pre-seed funding led by Polychain Capital, with contributions from Tribe Capital, Tabiya, Galileo, Polygon Ventures, The House Fund, and Accel. These strategic investments have helped position Eclipse at the forefront of the modular blockchain movement.

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A Universal Layer-2 for Developers

At its core, Eclipse is a customizable rollup provider designed to work seamlessly across multiple layer-1 ecosystems. It enables developers to deploy their own Solana-powered rollups, leveraging Solana’s high-performance runtime while using alternative chains for data availability or security—such as Celestia for data storage or EigenLayer for restaking-based validation.

This hybrid model allows teams to optimize performance, cost, and security based on their specific application needs. Whether building high-frequency DeFi protocols, AI-driven dApps, or scalable gaming platforms, developers can now tailor infrastructure without being locked into a single blockchain.

“We’re like a universal layer-2,” said Neel Somani, co-founder of Eclipse. “Solana, Sui, and Aptos are fast, but they don’t offer enough throughput to enable on-chain anything too computationally intensive, like machine learning.” With Eclipse, developers gain the flexibility to push these boundaries.

Powering Proactive Use Cases in Web3

Eclipse aims to unlock what Somani describes as “proactive use cases” — applications that go beyond simple transactions to deliver real-time, intelligent interactions on-chain. This includes everything from on-chain AI inference engines to autonomous financial agents capable of executing complex strategies without human intervention.

Such advancements require immense computational capacity and low-latency execution—qualities that traditional blockchains struggle to deliver consistently. By combining Solana’s speed with modular data layers, Eclipse creates an environment where these next-generation applications can thrive.

Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of Solana and an angel investor in Eclipse, emphasized the project’s interoperability potential: “Eclipse paves the path for Solana's runtime to communicate with Cosmos chains through Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC).” This integration opens doors for cross-chain composability at scale.

Niraj Pant, General Partner at Polychain Capital, added: “As major corporations and governments begin entering the blockchain space, Eclipse is essential infrastructure to facilitate their use cases, such as Web2-scale consumer and financial applications.”

Expanding Ecosystem Partnerships

Eclipse has already established key partnerships across the blockchain landscape. Collaborations with Celestia, EigenLayer, Oasis Labs, Polygon, Cosmos, and NEAR demonstrate its commitment to a modular, composable future.

These integrations allow Eclipse-based rollups to choose optimal components for each layer of their stack:

This flexibility positions Eclipse as a foundational building block in the evolving modular blockchain stack, where customization and interoperability are paramount.

Roadmap: Testnet Launch and Move Language Support

Eclipse plans to launch a public testnet on the Cosmos ecosystem in early 2025, marking a major milestone in its development. The testnet will allow developers to experiment with deploying custom rollups and integrating them with Cosmos-based applications via IBC.

Additionally, the team has announced future support for Aptos’ Move programming language, broadening its appeal beyond Rust-based developer communities. This move could attract teams building secure, resource-oriented smart contracts—especially those focused on finance and digital assets.

Team Evolution and Leadership Clarity

In an April 2025 update, Eclipse clarified its founding team structure. Sam Thapaliya, previously identified as a co-founder in early press releases, was confirmed to have served only as an advisor during 2022 and left that role in 2023. The company stated he was never a founder, shareholder, officer, or director.

Vijay Chetty, CEO of Eclipse Labs since May 2024, addressed the matter directly:
"Sam is not and has never been a shareholder, officer, or director of Eclipse. He has no entitlement to any tokens... Since I've taken over as CEO at Eclipse Labs in May 2024, I have been committed to improving the trajectory of this company and the Eclipse protocol."

Chetty also noted that Thapaliya’s former company, Zebec, filed a lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court in December 2023 seeking a share of Eclipse’s potential airdrop—a case dismissed the following year.

Despite past controversies, Chetty emphasized transparency and long-term protocol success:
"I remain committed to leading through transparency and doing everything I can to make sure that this protocol succeeds."

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is a universal layer-2?

A universal layer-2 is a scalable blockchain framework that supports multiple execution environments and can interface with various layer-1 networks. Eclipse achieves this by combining Solana’s runtime with flexible data and security layers.

How does Eclipse use Solana’s technology?

Eclipse leverages Solana’s high-speed runtime to power custom rollups. This allows developers to benefit from Solana’s throughput while using other chains for data storage or consensus.

Is Eclipse only compatible with Solana?

No. While it uses Solana’s execution layer, Eclipse is designed to be interoperable with multiple ecosystems—including Cosmos via IBC—and plans to support languages like Move used on Aptos.

Who are Eclipse’s main investors?

Key backers include Tribe Capital, Tabiya, Polychain Capital, Infinity Ventures Crypto, and CoinList—many of whom are leaders in crypto venture capital.

When will Eclipse launch its mainnet?

The public testnet is expected in early 2025 on the Cosmos network. Mainnet details will follow after successful testnet validation.

Can developers build non-financial apps on Eclipse?

Absolutely. Beyond DeFi, Eclipse supports AI-driven dApps, gaming, social platforms, and other compute-intensive applications requiring high throughput and low latency.

With strong funding, strategic partnerships, and a clear technical roadmap, Eclipse is positioning itself as a pivotal player in the next phase of blockchain evolution. As demand grows for scalable, interoperable infrastructure, projects like Eclipse may well define the backbone of tomorrow’s decentralized internet.

👉 Explore how you can start building on scalable layer-2 networks today.