Founded 2017 by Uri Kolodny, Eli Ben-Sasson, Michael Riabzev, Alessandro Chiesa. $287M raised, $8B valuation. Starknet + StarkEx ZK-rollups for Ethereum.
Zero-knowledge proof blockchain infrastructure · Founded 2017 by Uri Kolodny, Eli Ben-Sasson, Michael Riabzev, and Alessandro Chiesa · HQ Netanya, Israel · $287M raised · $8B valuation (May 2022) · Starknet and StarkEx — ZK-rollup scaling for Ethereum · Vitalik Buterin investor.
StarkWare at a Glance
| Company | StarkWare Industries Ltd. |
| Founded | 2017, Israel |
| Co-founders | Uri Kolodny (CEO) · Eli Ben-Sasson (President, Technion professor) · Michael Riabzev (Chief Architect) · Alessandro Chiesa (Chief Scientist, UC Berkeley professor) |
| Headquarters | Netanya, Israel |
| Product | STARK-based zero-knowledge proof technology — Starknet (permissionless L2 rollup) + StarkEx (permissioned scaling engine) |
| Total funding | $287M across 6 rounds |
| Valuation | $8B (Series D, May 2022) |
| Revenue | ~$65M (2025 est.) |
| Employees | ~200 |
| Key investors | Sequoia Capital, Paradigm, Coatue, Tiger Global, Founders Fund, Greenoaks, Vitalik Buterin, Amnon Shashua, Coinbase, Intel Capital, Altshuler Shaham |
| Status | Private |
Ben-Sasson and Kolodny: Academic Cryptography Meets Blockchain Infrastructure
StarkWare's founding team is rooted in academic cryptography research at the highest level. Eli Ben-Sasson is a professor of computer science at the Technion — Israel Institute of Technology — and a co-inventor of the STARK (Scalable Transparent ARgument of Knowledge) cryptographic proof system. Alessandro Chiesa is a professor at UC Berkeley and a co-inventor of both STARKs and the earlier zk-SNARK proof system that underlies Zcash. Uri Kolodny, the CEO, brought the commercial and operational layer. Michael Riabzev, the Chief Architect, completed the founding team.
The founding thesis: Ethereum, the world's largest programmable blockchain, processes approximately 15 transactions per second on its base layer — structurally too slow for global-scale applications. StarkWare's zero-knowledge rollup technology compresses thousands of transactions into a single cryptographic proof that is verified on Ethereum's base layer, achieving orders-of-magnitude higher throughput while inheriting Ethereum's security guarantees. The technology is the Israeli cryptographic bridge between blockchain's security model and the throughput demands of real-world financial and gaming applications.
The Products: StarkEx and Starknet
StarkWare ships two products. StarkEx is a permissioned, application-specific scaling engine — a white-label service custom-built for individual platforms. StarkEx processes 250,000+ transactions per day and powers some of the largest decentralized applications in the Ethereum ecosystem, including dYdX (derivatives exchange), Sorare (fantasy sports and NFTs), and Immutable X (NFT marketplace). Starknet is a permissionless, general-purpose Layer 2 network — an open platform where any developer can deploy smart contracts written in Cairo (StarkWare's custom programming language) and benefit from zero-knowledge scaling. Starknet fully launched in late February 2022.
The $8B Valuation in Six Months
StarkWare's valuation trajectory was among the most dramatic in blockchain infrastructure. In November 2021, a $50 million Series C led by Sequoia Capital valued the company at $2 billion. In March 2022, reports emerged of a $100 million Series D at $6 billion — tripling the valuation in three months. By May 2022, the round closed at $8 billion with participation from Greenoaks, Tiger Global, and Coatue. The company quadrupled its valuation in six months. Total funding reached $287 million.
The investor list includes Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum — arguably the most significant strategic validation possible for an Ethereum scaling company. Israeli investors include Amnon Shashua (Mobileye), Coinbase, Intel Capital, and Altshuler Shaham. The company employed only 70 people at the time of the Series C — making it one of the highest-valued Israeli companies per employee in history.
StarkWare in the Israeli Crypto-Infrastructure Position
StarkWare is the most academically credentialed company in the Israeli blockchain ecosystem. It sits alongside Fireblocks (institutional custody, $8B), Bancor (decentralized exchange protocol), and the Israeli cryptography research base at the Technion, Hebrew University, and Weizmann Institute. The pattern: Israel produces the cryptographic plumbing of global blockchain infrastructure — the proof systems, custody architectures, and protocol layers — while exchange and trading platforms are headquartered elsewhere. StarkWare's STARK proof system, invented in Israeli academia and commercialized in Netanya, is now a foundational technology of the Ethereum ecosystem.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who founded StarkWare?
Uri Kolodny (CEO), Eli Ben-Sasson (Technion professor, STARK co-inventor), Michael Riabzev, and Alessandro Chiesa (UC Berkeley professor), in Israel in 2017.
What does StarkWare do?
StarkWare builds zero-knowledge proof technology that scales Ethereum — compressing thousands of transactions into a single proof, enabling faster and cheaper blockchain operations.
How much has StarkWare raised?
$287 million across six rounds, reaching an $8 billion valuation in May 2022.
What is Starknet?
A permissionless Layer 2 network on Ethereum where any developer can deploy smart contracts and benefit from zero-knowledge scaling.
Did Vitalik Buterin invest in StarkWare?
Yes. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is an investor in StarkWare.
Is StarkWare an Israeli company?
Yes — headquartered in Netanya, Israel, with the core technology invented at the Technion.
Who are StarkWare's competitors?
Matter Labs (zkSync), Polygon (zkEVM), Optimism, and Arbitrum in the Ethereum L2 scaling space.
Primary Sources
StarkWare company announcements on funding rounds. Calcalist/CTech reporting on $6B–$8B valuation. CryptoSlate, Blockchain.news, and TokenInsight coverage. CB Insights and Crunchbase funding data. Globes Series E reporting.