zkLend is a technology company.
zkLend has raised $5.0M across 1 funding round.
zkLend has raised $5.0M in total across 1 funding round.
zkLend has raised $5.0M in total across 1 funding round.
zkLend's investors include Acrew Capital, Animoca Brands, BITKRAFT Ventures, DCVC (Data Collective), Scott Hartley, Infinity Ventures Crypto, Mechanism Capital, Moonfire Ventures, Night Ventures, Play Ventures, Seed Club Ventures, True Ventures.
zkLend is a Layer-2 money market and lending protocol built on StarkNet, Ethereum's zk-rollup scaling solution, enabling users to deposit and borrow digital assets with low costs, high speed, and Ethereum-level security.[1][2][3][5] It targets both retail DeFi users via a permissionless protocol called Artemis and institutions through a compliance-focused, permissioned counterpart named Apollo, solving scalability issues in DeFi lending while offering features like two-sided collateralization, dynamic liquidation, and risk-isolated pools.[3] The protocol raised $5M in seed funding in 2022, launched on mainnet in May 2023, but faced a $9.5M hack in February 2025 and announced a shutdown in June 2025, marking stalled growth amid its native token ZEND's inactive trading status.[4]
zkLend emerged from the burgeoning StarkNet ecosystem in 2022, co-founded by Brian Fu (project head with expertise in traditional banking, fintech, crypto exchanges, and DeFi) and ZK Leung (tech lead skilled in Solidity, Rust, decentralized exchanges, synthetic assets, and wallets).[1][3] The idea crystallized as the team recognized StarkNet's potential for innovative DeFi protocols unavailable on Ethereum L1, driven by low fees (~$0.2 vs. $8 on Ethereum) and zk-rollup scalability; they aimed to pioneer lending amid a "scrappy and robust developer ecosystem" expanding into games, DeFi, and infrastructure.[1][3] Key milestones included a $5M seed round on March 29, 2022, testnet launch in December 2022, mainnet in May 2023, and ZEND token trading in March 2024, though later setbacks like the 2025 hack and shutdown overshadowed early traction.[4]
zkLend stands out in DeFi lending through StarkNet-native innovations:
zkLend rode the zk-rollup wave on StarkNet, addressing Ethereum's scalability bottlenecks by enabling cheap, fast DeFi lending amid L2 adoption surges post-2022.[1][3] Timing aligned with StarkNet's ecosystem boom—from nascent to expansive in months—positioning zkLend as a flagship protocol to onboard retail and institutions via dual solutions, countering competition with compliance tools and efficiency.[3] Favorable forces included zk-proofs' maturity for secure scaling and DeFi's demand for institutional-grade products; it influenced StarkNet by pioneering money markets, though the 2025 hack and shutdown highlighted L2 vulnerabilities, tempering its ecosystem impact.[4]
Post-2025 hack and shutdown announcement, zkLend's trajectory points to closure, with its ZEND token inactive and no revival signals, underscoring DeFi's security risks despite zkLend's innovative StarkNet lending model.[4] Emerging trends like advanced zk-L2s and regulated DeFi could revive similar dual protocols, but zkLend's legacy lies in proving permissioned-permissionless hybrids—potentially shaping successors on StarkNet or rivals. Its influence may evolve through team alumni driving safer L2 money markets, tying back to its core promise of scalable, secure lending that briefly elevated StarkNet DeFi.
zkLend has raised $5.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $5.0M Seed in March 2022.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 1, 2022 | $5.0M Seed | Acrew Capital, Animoca Brands, BITKRAFT Ventures, DCVC (Data Collective), Scott Hartley, Infinity Ventures Crypto, Mechanism Capital, Moonfire Ventures, Night Ventures, Play Ventures, Seed Club Ventures, True Ventures, Ryan Zurrer, Aleksander Leonard Larsen, Hubert Thieblot, Sebastien Borget, Thomas Vu |