Ex-Protocol Labs & IPFS team create new protocol to enable scalable decentralised databases for all
[image id=’2404′]
London (12th June 2018) — Leading blockchain and Web 3.0 venture capital firm Outlier Ventures becomes lead investor in, and strategic partner to, Haja Networks, closing a funding round that also features other prominent partners and investors including Polychain Capital, BigchainDB, and Creathor Ventures.
Haja Networks is an ambitious team comprised of some of the early team behind OrbitDB and IPFS that is building two new and complementary open-source protocols to enable decentralised databases.
- Decentralised Database Protocol: An open protocol to build decentralised databases that enables users to own and control their data. The protocol integrates with existing databases, unlocking them to the decentralised web, and enables interoperability between structured data sources.
- Decentralised Database Network: A marketplace for decentralised database services allowing providers to monetize their software whilst data hungry businesses have straightforward access to the widest range of services.
Haja Networks is led by CEO and pioneering developer Samuli Pöyhtäri (@haadcode) and Chief Technology Officer, Vesa-Ville Piiroinen. Piiroinen has decades of experience in distributed systems and enterprise database and security solutions. Pöyhtäri is a former IPFS core developer, and is at the forefront of decentralised databases and storage systems. He is also well known for creating OrbitDB a peer-to-peer database for the decentralised web that is used by various decentralized applications and projects.
Jamie Burke, CEO, Outlier Ventures commented: “Blockchains today generally can’t handle most database sizes and throughput volumes and that will likely still be the case even when proposed scalability solutions come online. In fact, in many cases a blockchain is simply overkill for the majority of use-cases but there is still a requirement for decentralisation just without making all the trade-offs between cost, speed and security. Therefore what’s often really needed is interoperability between decentralized networks. It’s this that holds the most promise to a world full of decentralised applications that have high performance and a great user experience to rival and ultimately replace today’s centralised web.”
Haja Networks have already firmly established themselves as a critical component to useable decentralised databases partnering with Berlin based BigchainDB who have now also made a strategic investment.
Christian Weniger, Partner at Creathor Ventures commented: “Haja Networks’ founders impressed us with their clear product vision and sector expertise. We are excited to support them on their quest to bring interoperability to decentralized networks.”
Pöyhtäri added: “There are great projects seeking to make decentralised data storage and data exchange possible, but there’s a significant gap for decentralized databases, which are able to update and structure data in a scalable way.”
He continued: “The team at Outlier Ventures recognise and share our vision. The capital investment itself is just one small part of the partnership. Outlier have the knowledge, network and depth of team to help us deliver our vision over several years to become a foundational part of the new decentralized web.”
