• Zcash Open Development Lab raised over $25 million in a seed round led by several crypto investors to support development within the Zcash ecosystem.
• The team, led by Josh Swihart, includes former developers from Electric Coin Company now continuing work on the Zcash protocol.
• The funds will be used to expand engineering efforts and further develop the self-custodial Zodl wallet.

Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL) has raised more than $25 million in a seed funding round, according to an announcement on Monday.

The round drew participation from several crypto-focused venture firms and angel investors. Backers include Paradigm, Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm, Winklevoss Capital, and Coinbase Ventures. Other investors include Cypherpunk Holdings, Maelstrom, and Chapter One, as well as individual backers such as Balaji Srinivasan, David Friedberg, Haseeb Qureshi, and Mert Mumtaz.

ZODL to use capital for team expansion and protocol development

ZODL said the capital will be used to expand its engineering team and support development of the Zcash protocol and the Zodl wallet.

“This fundraise positions ZODL for growth, including adding engineers and other talent, and reflects strong conviction from some of the most respected investors in crypto, not only in privacy as a principle, but in the continued growth of the Zcash ecosystem and the ZODL team,” ZODL wrote.

The Zodl mobile wallet, launched in 2024 under the name Zashi, provides self-custodial access to Zcash while supporting shielded transactions.

ZODL added that the Zodl wallet has aided growth in the Zcash shielded pool by more than 400% since the app’s launch in 2024. It also facilitated over $600 million in ZEC swaps since October 2025.

ZODL was founded by Josh Swihart, the former chief executive of Electric Coin Company (ECC). The organization now includes members of the core engineering team who previously worked on Zcash development at ECC.

The project noted that those developers transitioned to ZODL earlier this year to continue work on the Zcash protocol and a mobile wallet project, previously called Zashi and now known as Zodl.

Zcash is up 10% over the past 24 hours as of writing, following the announcement.