The startup founded by former Electric Coin Company employees has raised $25 million in seed funding from a bevy of leading crypto and technology investors.
Zcash Open Development Lab is developing the Zodl wallet, based on the popular Zashi wallet codebase, and other Zcash-related tech.
Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL), the startup formed following the mass exodus of Electric Coin Company cryptographers and employees following a board dispute, has raised $25 million in seed funding, according to an announcement on Monday.
The round included backing from Paradigm, a16z crypto, Winklevoss Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Cypherpunk Technologies, Chapter One and Arthur Hayes’ Maelstrom. Other individual investors include Balaji Srinivasan, David Friedberg, Haseeb Qureshi, Mert, and other “leading angels across crypto and technology.”
ZODL oversees the open-source Zodl Zcash wallet, formerly known as Zashi when it was developed by Electric Coin Company. The startup also houses the Zashi wallet technology and related intellectual property, according to the press release.
In January, former ECC CEO Josh Swihart said the entire ECC staff departed the for-profit company following a disagreement with Bootstrap, the company’s nonprofit board. The dispute reportedly revolved around monetizing parts of the Zcash protocol, including the Zashi wallet, which was created in 2024.
According to Monday’s announcement, the Zodl wallet, based on the Zashi codebase, has facilitated more than $600 million in ZEC swaps since October.
It has also driven growth in the Zcash shielded pool supply by over 400%. ZCash's shielded pool supply reached a record 23% of the total token supply late last year and has stayed relatively stable since.
Zcash protocol development remains a core part of ZODL’s work,” the announcement reads. “The engineers who designed, built, and maintained Zcash’s most critical systems at ECC have joined ZODL and continue that work with the same commitment and integrity the ecosystem has relied on for years.”
The startup intends to hire engineers and other talent and continue developing Zcash technologies with the capital injection, according to the announcement.
Zcash was one of the top-performing digital assets in the second half of 2025, driven by renewed interest in blockchain privacy.
The network launched in 2016 as a fork of Bitcoin and has undergone significant upgrades since, including the introduction of state-of-the-art ZK tech and a switch to proof-of-stake consensus.