Ark Labs Secures $2.5 Million Pre-Seed to Power the Future of Bitcoin-Driven Global Commerce

Some big news from the Lab — we’ve just closed a $2.5 million pre-seed fundraise, led by visionary investor Tim Draper and his venture firm, Draper Associates! With the additional support of industry heavyweights Fulgur Ventures, Axiom Capital, and renowned angel investor Stephen Cole, this marks a major leap forward in our mission to make Bitcoin the future of payments and global commerce.

Ark: A Scalable Solution for Bitcoin Payments

For those just tuning in, Ark Labs launched in May with a bold mission: to bring seamless and scalable payments to Bitcoin by advancing and maintaining an open implementation of the Ark protocol, while also developing products and services to drive its broader adoption.

While the Lightning Network has made significant strides in improving Bitcoin’s scalability in recent years, it still presents serious user experience challenges for merchants and non-technical users, particularly around channel and liquidity management.

Ark addresses these challenges by offloading the complexities of transacting with Bitcoin to trustless servers called Ark Service Providers (ASPs), enabling users to start sending and receiving payments immediately out the gate with just a wallet.

This approach eliminates the need for deep technical understanding or custodial solutions, making Bitcoin more accessible, while staying true to its core values of decentralization and self-custody.

As the first to actively develop and implement Ark, we envision it becoming the go-to solution for consumer-facing payments and remittances, while Lightning continues to play a leading role in enterprise applications, serving as the interoperability layer between ASPs, exchanges, and other second-layer protocols.

Meet the Investors

The participation of Tim Draper, Fulgur Ventures, Axiom Capital, and Stephen Cole in this funding round not only provides us with the resources to accelerate our development but also brings invaluable expertise and validation of our vision.

When we began our search for investors, we weren’t just looking for financial backing — we wanted partners who truly understood our goals. Tim Draper’s unparalleled track record in supporting world-changing companies like Tesla, SpaceX, and Robinhood — along with prominent Bitcoin ventures like OpenNode and Bitwage — gives us tremendous confidence as we move forward. We look forward to learning from Tim’s invaluable experience in scaling disruptive technologies and his strategic guidance, particularly as we look to integrate Ark within the broader fintech landscape.

Similarly, Fulgur Ventures’ focus on advancing Bitcoin and Lightning projects, Axiom Capital’s deep understanding of Bitcoin-based finance and Stephen Cole’s strategic insights reinforce our ability to execute our vision.

“Soon many people around the world will live on the Bitcoin standard. Today, we have to focus not only on how to buy and store Bitcoin but how to use it as a medium of exchange for everyday purposes. Ark’s architecture allows for seamless Bitcoin payments, in a way that stays true to its core principles of decentralization and self-custody” — Tim Draper, Founder and Managing Partner of Draper Associates

The Future of Ark Labs

So, what will this initial funding be used for? Our immediate priority is to lay a solid foundation for the company’s future. This includes hiring top talent across functions who share our vision, particularly world-class developers as we continue to improve the Ark protocol and its interoperability with Lightning. We’re also focused on building strategic partnerships with merchants, potential ASPs, and wallet developers to integrate Ark into their offerings.

Importantly, this funding will also support our R&D efforts as we develop complementary consumer-facing products and services that capitalize on Ark’s usability and utility. One such product currently in development is Ark Node, an Ark-enabled wallet that allows users to send, receive, and swap bitcoin over Lightning through a simple, easy-to-use dashboard.

We’re planning to release a closed beta for Ark Node in early September, with a broader rollout scheduled later this year. Stay tuned for more info!

Looking ahead, we’re incredibly grateful to have the support of visionary investors who believe in our mission. But this is just the beginning. We invite developers, integration partners, and top talent to join us in shaping the future of global commerce powered by Bitcoin.

Whether you’re interested in integrating Ark into your apps, contributing to the protocol’s development, or helping to build the next wave of Ark-based services, drop us an email or subscribe to our newsletter.