StarkWare co-founder/president. Technion CS professor. Invented STARK zero-knowledge proofs. $8B valuation. The mathematician behind the most-deployed ZK scaling infrastructure on Ethereum.
The Builders | Olam.business
Eli Ben-Sasson is the co-founder and president of StarkWare Industries, the Israeli cryptography company that invented STARK zero-knowledge proofs and turned them into production-grade blockchain scaling infrastructure. A Technion computer science professor, Ben-Sasson's academic work on probabilistically checkable proofs laid the theoretical foundation for the STARK proof system now embedded in some of the most-deployed Ethereum scaling technology.
At a Glance
| Role | Co-founder and president, StarkWare Industries; Professor of Computer Science, Technion — Israel Institute of Technology |
| Company founded | StarkWare, 2018, with Uri Kolodny (CEO), Michael Riabzev, and Alessandro Chiesa |
| Core invention | STARKs — Scalable Transparent Arguments of Knowledge, a zero-knowledge proof system; co-authored the foundational paper with Alessandro Chiesa |
| Products | StarkNet (permissionless Layer 2 network); StarkEx (permissioned scaling engine used by dYdX, Immutable X, Sorare) |
| Valuation | $8 billion, 2022 Series D led by Greenoaks Capital, with Paradigm, Sequoia, Founders Fund, and Vitalik Buterin personally as investors |
From Probabilistically Checkable Proofs to Production Blockchain Infrastructure
Ben-Sasson's academic research at the Technion focused on probabilistically checkable proofs (PCPs) and interactive oracle proofs — theoretical computer science that, decades after its initial development, became the mathematical foundation for STARKs. He co-authored the foundational STARK paper with Alessandro Chiesa, and in 2018 co-founded StarkWare Industries with Chiesa, Uri Kolodny (who serves as CEO), and Michael Riabzev to commercialize the technology at production scale.
StarkWare's technology now powers StarkNet, a permissionless Layer 2 blockchain network, and StarkEx, a permissioned scaling engine adopted by exchanges and platforms including dYdX, Immutable X, and Sorare. The company reached an $8 billion valuation in a 2022 Series D round led by Greenoaks Capital, with participation from Paradigm, Sequoia, Founders Fund, and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin personally.
The STARK proof system is distinguished from competing zero-knowledge approaches (SNARKs) by two properties: it is transparent, requiring no trusted-setup ceremony, and it is quantum-resistant. Ben-Sasson's academic credibility and the Technion institutional pedigree give StarkWare a scientific legitimacy uncommon among crypto infrastructure companies.
Where Ben-Sasson Sits in the Israeli Crypto Builder Cohort
Ben-Sasson is the mathematician of the Israeli crypto tier. Michael Shaulov (Fireblocks) built institutional custody infrastructure; Yoni Assia (eToro) built consumer trading distribution. Ben-Sasson built the cryptographic primitives that the entire zero-knowledge-rollup category now runs on — a contribution closer to academic invention than conventional startup-building, commercialized through StarkWare at a scale that makes the distinction largely academic in practice.
The Technion-to-crypto pipeline Ben-Sasson represents is small but significant: Israeli academic cryptographers turning theoretical computer science into deployable blockchain infrastructure. It mirrors the Hebrew University-to-Mobileye pipeline Amnon Shashua built in computer vision a generation earlier.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Eli Ben-Sasson?
Eli Ben-Sasson is an Israeli cryptographer, Technion computer science professor, and co-founder of StarkWare Industries, the company behind STARK zero-knowledge proofs and the StarkNet and StarkEx blockchain-scaling platforms.
What is a STARK?
A Scalable Transparent Argument of Knowledge — a zero-knowledge proof system Ben-Sasson co-invented that allows blockchain transactions to be verified without a trusted setup ceremony, and that is designed to remain secure against quantum-computing attacks.
What is StarkWare's valuation?
StarkWare reached an $8 billion valuation in a 2022 Series D round led by Greenoaks Capital, with investors including Paradigm, Sequoia, Founders Fund, and Vitalik Buterin.
Who else founded StarkWare?
Uri Kolodny (CEO), Michael Riabzev, and Alessandro Chiesa, Ben-Sasson's co-author on the foundational STARK research paper.
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- Amnon Shashua: Mobileye Co-Founder, Hebrew University Sachs Chair
- The Builders
מי הוא אלי בן-ששון?
אלי בן-ששון הוא שותף-מייסד ונשיא StarkWare Industries, חברת הקריפטוגרפיה הישראלית שהמציאה את הוכחות ה-STARK ותרגמה אותן לתשתית סקיילינג בלוקצ'יין ברמה תעשייתית. פרופסור למדעי המחשב בטכניון. StarkWare הגיעה לשווי של 8 מיליארד דולר בסבב גיוס ב-2022.
The Olam Editorial Team | The Builders / הבונים
