Reach, a domain-specific language for building decentralized applications (DApps) that makes it easy to launch applications using a JavaScript-like language on high-performance blockchain networks including Algorand and Ethereum, today announced they’ve raised $12 million in funding at a $48 million valuation.
The platform empowers software developers to safely and easily build blockchain applications in a fraction of the time, regardless of skills and experience. The funding round will fuel the onboarding of developers to Reach which, to date, has grown at a rate of 10-20% each week.
Increasing the accessibility of blockchain development is expected to bolster the market share of its growing pool of partner protocols, like Algorand and Ethereum. This funding fuels the platform’s developer onboarding which has grown at an accelerated rate. Reach’s developer community has already produced games, auctions, NFTs, and more through several hackathon-style events hosted in partnership with the Algorand Foundation and Boston Blockchain Week.
“Reach’s focus on accessibility and safety, when combined with the powerful Algorand Virtual Machine (AVM), provides the safest, easiest, fastest, and cheapest smart contract platform available.”
– Steve Kokinos, CEO of Algorand
Funding Boost
Accelerated hiring across development and product teams will be a primary focus for Reach with the additional influx of funding, in order to build additional features into the platform. This includes a commercial version of Reach that will safely enable enterprises to create contracts that manage significant volumes and the value of assets.
Upcoming expansion initiatives focus on developer acquisition, instructional materials, and continued acceleration of dApp development. The team plans to enhance the platform’s knowledge base and expand its presence in academia by developing university-level curricula and online self-paced courses.
“This investment accelerates our path to becoming the primary method the world builds decentralized applications that will form the basis of global interaction.”
– Reach Founder and CEO Chris Swenor
Reach was founded in October 2019, out of the Boston-based home offices of Chris Swenor and Jay McCarthy. McCarthy received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Brown University and teaches as an associate professor at UMass Lowell. Chris Swenor is an entrepreneur with many successful exits to his name. He currently serves as a mentor at Harvard Business School, TechStars, and MassChallenge.
