Stackup Secures $4.2 Million Seed Funding for Enterprise-Grade Crypto Management

Stackup, a Los Angeles-based enterprise-grade platform for managing on-chain business operations, has secured $4.2 million in seed funding. The platform aims to provide businesses with centralized control over their decentralized assets using account abstraction technology. This technology, which debuted on Ethereum’s mainnet in 2023, allows users to create non-custodial wallets as programmable smart contracts, enabling features such as easy wallet recovery and signless transactions.

The seed funding round was led by venture capital firm 1kx, with participation from Y Combinator and Digital Currency Group, among other firms. The funds will be used to further develop the platform, which supports features that businesses need, such as spending limits for accounts, the ability to specify who can receive funds, or reviewing transactions in bulk before sending them with one click.

Stackup was co-founded by CTO Hazim Jumali, an Ethereum Foundation grantee, and CEO John Rising, a former senior mission manager at SpaceX. Rising's experience in aerospace engineering has given him a unique perspective on the importance of safety and precision in the crypto industry. He emphasized that builders in crypto tend to focus on security, which is about preventing unauthorized access, but users need safety.

Rising's experience at SpaceX has shaped his approach to building Stackup. He recounted an incident at Virgin Galactic where a mishap caused the vehicle to break up in the sky, resulting in the loss of a pilot's life. This event highlighted the importance of considering the human factor in system design, a principle that Rising applies to the development of Stackup.

The platform's goal is to prevent catastrophic on-chain failures by providing businesses with the tools they need to manage their digital assets effectively. Rising compared the potential losses in the crypto industry to those in the aerospace industry, noting that a security incident at crypto exchange Bybit resulted in a $1.4 billion hack. He emphasized the importance of learning from past failures and implementing robust security measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Stackup's team is currently composed of four members, a small but dedicated group working to develop a platform that can revolutionize the way businesses manage their digital assets. The success of the seed funding round is a testament to the growing interest in crypto solutions that prioritize user safety and operational efficiency. As the industry continues to evolve, platforms like Stackup will play a crucial role in shaping the future of digital asset management.