Pimlico, a London-based crypto startup, has raised $4.2 million in a seed round led by investment firm a16z. The startup is on a mission to make using Ethereum easier and the new funds have come in shortly after its founder and CEO Kristof Gazso graduated from a16z’s Crypto Startup School Spring 2023 cohort.
The new funding follows the $1.6 million raised in September 2023, and with this, Pimlico is better equipped to build the infrastructure to help developers churn out user-friendly decentralized applications. One of the core components of this mission is to make it easier for them to build smart accounts and enhance their scalability. In addition, developers on the platform will not need to build their own relaying and sponsoring infrastructure.
A look at Pimlico’s mission
Pimlico aims to leverage Ethereum’s ERC-4337 upgrade to expand the capabilities of the network using smart accounts and remove key technical barriers for developers. To do this, Pimlico establishes custom standards for the communication between “smart accounts” and other relevant infrastructure. Using smart account solution, means that developers can now focus on building cutting-edge applications rather than spending time and resources on blockchain transaction intricacies.
In addition, the company is creating innovative solutions for gas sponsorship, which involves using ERC-20 tokens to pay for gas payments. Also, it has developed advanced account recovery methods and established spending limits for programmes within the Ethereum ecosystem.
Essentially, Pimlico uses smart accounts as a solution to the limitations of Ethereum’s current structure. One of the limitations within the world’s leading developer blockchain is that each account is restricted to one private key. Ultimately, Pimlico aims to improve the developer experience on Ethereum, and provide multiple ways for executing on-chain transactions.
With Pimlico’s verifying and ERC-20 paymasters, the gas fees is no longer a hurdle. In addition, developers have the freedom and security to do things like sponsor transactions, subsidise user minting costs, and take credit cards for blockchain payments. This is expected to increase mass adoption of digital payments significantly.