NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Fermah, the universal proof generation layer, has announced the successful closure of its $5.2 million seed round, co-led by the a16z CSX fund and Lemniscap. The round also included participation from Bankless Ventures, Longhash Ventures, P-OPS team, Public Works, ZK Validator, Lambda Class, Daedalus, Zero DAO, Velocity Capital, and Daemon Ventures.
A number of S-tier builders also participated as angels in the round, including former Coinbase CTO and a16z GP Balaji Srinivasan; Celestia's Mustafa Al-Bassam (CEO) and Nick White (COO); Co-founders of Polygon, Sandeep Nailwal, Jaynti Kanani, and Daniel Lubarov; as well as Aztec's Zac Williamson (CEO) and Claire Kart (CMO); and several others.
The funding will go towards product development and team expansion, with Fermah currently hiring for a number of key roles, as part of the company's vision to make zero-knowledge proofs the default substrate for all computation.
Fermah was founded by seasoned cryptographer Vanishree Rao, who has dedicated the last 15 years to designing and building Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs), and holds a PhD in Cryptography from UCLA. Vanishree was also the Lead Cryptographer at O(1) Labs – the team behind Mina Protocol, one of the earliest and most innovative ZK protocols. She has extensive experience working with cryptographic primitives including secure hash functions, advanced digital signature schemes, ZKPs, multi-party computation protocols, key exchange protocols, and program obfuscation.
While ZKP technology is slowly becoming practical enough to power broad, modern applications, the generation of proofs remains extremely resource-intensive, requiring expensive, powerful physical infrastructure. The underutilization of this hardware inflates the price users pay for their ZK transactions. Beyond this, designing, implementing, and maintaining the optimal incentive structure for this infrastructure is extremely onerous.
Fermah – which is optimized for cheap, fast, and reliable ZK proof generation – is addressing this long-standing complexity issue inherent to ZKPs, functioning as a marketplace for ZK proof generation. Fermah generates proofs for any instance in which ZK is used – whether it's for ZK rollups, ZK bridges, ZK coprocessors, ZKML projects or ZKFHE projects. Fermah is neutral and architected to support all proof systems, including zkVMs, zkEVMs, Groth16, and all other proof systems.
Fermah aggregates demand from various sources, allowing suppliers to leverage economies of scale, enabling a reduction in costs for proof generation. In turn, the range of use cases that can practically leverage ZKP technology expands – creating a flywheel that grows the aggregate demand for proofs, and hence enables further economies of scale to lower costs. This flywheel makes the economics of ZKPs viable across a much broader range of use cases. When combined with Fermah's several technical breakthroughs, Fermah enables the first efficient marketplace for ZK proof generation.
Roderik van der Graaf, Founder and Managing Partner of Lemniscap, said: "Lemniscap is firmly behind Fermah in their mission to provide fast, cheap, and reliable infrastructure to help developers build category-leading products. By abstracting ZKP complexity, Fermah is lowering the technical barriers to entry, enabling more developers and businesses to integrate these proofs into their systems. This long awaited democratization of ZKPs extends the reach of these advanced cryptographic techniques to a broader range of applications."
Vanishree Rao, Founder and CEO of Fermah, said: "I'm extremely optimistic that Fermah will revolutionize the ZK space as we know it. With the right team, backers, and experience, we're poised to bring our vision to fruition. Soon, incorporating zero knowledge into applications will be frictionless. After over 15 years of building ZKPs, I can clearly see that we are approaching an inflection point: the infrastructure is finally in place, and we're on the precipice of a boom in innovative ZK applications. Fermah will play an integral role in this boom."
About Fermah
Fermah is the universal proof generation layer. It functions as a marketplace, where the supply side comprises GPUs and FPGAs. On the demand side, Fermah can generate proofs for any instance in which ZK is used. Fermah is optimized for cheap, fast, and reliable ZK proof generation.
About Lemniscap
Lemniscap is an investment firm specializing in investments in emerging crypto assets and blockchain startups. Since its founding in 2017, Lemniscap has funded multiple investments in the crypto blockchain space, on the core belief that blockchain technology will upend traditional business models, resulting in profound changes in the world economy. The Lemniscap team consists of talented people with backgrounds in financial markets, PE/VC, technology and entrepreneurship. For more information, visit https://lemniscap.com.
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
Fermah Closes $5.2M Seed Round to Abstract Away the Complexity of ZK Proof Generation
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- Will collaborate with the Vietnamese government and educational institutions to train construction equipment professionals
- Plans to provide comprehensive support and technical expertise for the entire process leading to WorldSkills Shanghai in September
- "Committed to fostering young technical talent and bolstering industrial competitiveness in Vietnam."
SEOUL, South Korea, April 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- HD Construction Equipment, the intermediary holding company of HD Hyundai's construction equipment business, will be expanding its commitment to nurturing global technical talent in the construction machinery sector by supporting Vietnam's national team for WorldSkills.
HD Construction Equipment announced on Sunday, April 5 that it signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Hanoi with the Directorate of Vocational Education and Training, or DVET, under the Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, and the Central College of Transport No. 1 (CCT1), a local vocational training college. The agreement aims to support Vietnam's participation in the WorldSkills competition.
Under this agreement, HD Construction Equipment will assist with the entire process—from training to competition entry—for the Vietnamese national representative competing in the Heavy Vehicle Maintenance category at WorldSkills Shanghai 2026, scheduled for this September.
The company plans to offer comprehensive technical training to Nguyen Xuan Khanh, who was selected as the national representative last year. Furthermore, the company will cover all expenses related to this training, including airfare, registration fees, and accommodation, in order to create an optimal environment for the competitor to maximize his performance.
In July of last year, HD Construction Equipment signed an MOU with CCT1, which includes the Green and Smart Construction Equipment Talent Project. This initiative is part of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA)'s inclusive business program. The collaboration aims to support the development of smart equipment in Vietnam and to create localized training curricula.
The company has deepened its commitment to Vietnam through a series of key initiatives, including hosting government officials and instructors for training in October, supporting national skills trials in November, and awarding scholarships.
An official from HD Construction Equipment stated, "This collaboration is not just a one-time event; it is part of our commitment to sustainable, locally integrated business practices. We will continue to foster Vietnam's young technical talents, helping them compete on the global stage."
- Will collaborate with the Vietnamese government and educational institutions to train construction equipment professionals
- Plans to provide comprehensive support and technical expertise for the entire process leading to WorldSkills Shanghai in September
- "Committed to fostering young technical talent and bolstering industrial competitiveness in Vietnam."
SEOUL, South Korea, April 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- HD Construction Equipment, the intermediary holding company of HD Hyundai's construction equipment business, will be expanding its commitment to nurturing global technical talent in the construction machinery sector by supporting Vietnam's national team for WorldSkills.
HD Construction Equipment announced on Sunday, April 5 that it signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Hanoi with the Directorate of Vocational Education and Training, or DVET, under the Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, and the Central College of Transport No. 1 (CCT1), a local vocational training college. The agreement aims to support Vietnam's participation in the WorldSkills competition.
Under this agreement, HD Construction Equipment will assist with the entire process—from training to competition entry—for the Vietnamese national representative competing in the Heavy Vehicle Maintenance category at WorldSkills Shanghai 2026, scheduled for this September.
The company plans to offer comprehensive technical training to Nguyen Xuan Khanh, who was selected as the national representative last year. Furthermore, the company will cover all expenses related to this training, including airfare, registration fees, and accommodation, in order to create an optimal environment for the competitor to maximize his performance.
In July of last year, HD Construction Equipment signed an MOU with CCT1, which includes the Green and Smart Construction Equipment Talent Project. This initiative is part of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA)'s inclusive business program. The collaboration aims to support the development of smart equipment in Vietnam and to create localized training curricula.
The company has deepened its commitment to Vietnam through a series of key initiatives, including hosting government officials and instructors for training in October, supporting national skills trials in November, and awarding scholarships.
An official from HD Construction Equipment stated, "This collaboration is not just a one-time event; it is part of our commitment to sustainable, locally integrated business practices. We will continue to foster Vietnam's young technical talents, helping them compete on the global stage."
** This press release is distributed by PR Newswire through automated distribution system, for which the client assumes full responsibility. **
HD Construction Equipment to Support Training for Vietnam's National WorldSkills Team
