According to BlockBeats, privacy-focused modular blockchain developer Inco has announced the completion of a $4.5 million seed funding round and the launch of its first testnet, Gentry. The funding round was led by 1kx, with participation from Circle Ventures, GSR, Polygon Ventures, Robot Ventures, Alliance DAO, and zkSync developer Matter Labs. Inco founder Remi Gai stated that the funding round used a simple future equity agreement (SAFE) with token warrants structure but declined to disclose the valuation.
Established in August last year, Inco aims to bring privacy protection to decentralized applications. It can be compared to modular blockchain projects such as Celestia and Lava, which focus on data availability and data access, respectively, while Inco focuses on privacy protection. Inco utilizes fully homomorphic encryption technology to maintain the confidentiality of on-chain data while remaining auditable. Inco plans to release its second testnet, Paillier, between the second and third quarters of this year, with the mainnet expected to launch in the fourth quarter.