Telecom
LayerZero Raises $120M to Expand Cross-chain Messaging Efforts
LayerZero Labs, a web3 messaging protocol, has closed a $120 million Series B round, raising its valuation to $3 billion from $1 billion, the company said on Tuesday.
Unlike Web 2.0 messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram, this messaging protocol lets users send different types of messages between blockchains, like cross-chain interactions, eliminating the need for intermediaries.
“It’s pure arbitrary data; it’s like internet-packaged messaging between computers, not like instant messaging,” Bryan Pellegrino, CEO and co-founder of LayerZero Labs, told TechCrunch. “It’s the movement of data.”
LayerZero connects over 30 mainnet blockchains, including two non-Ethereum Virtual Machines (EVMs), Aptos and Solana, Pellegrino noted.
The protocol is used by on-chain applications like decentralized exchanges, including the likes of PancakeSwap, Sushiswap, Trader Joe and Uniswap. The platform has secured over $7 billion in total value locked and processed over $6 billion in transactional volume, the startup said.
Since launching about a year ago, “hundreds of thousands of unique users” have used the protocol, Pellegrino said.
It took the protocol about 7.5 months to hit 1 million messages; then it took 2.5 months to hit the next million messages, Pellegrino said. “Everything else is rapidly evolving. By the end of this year, I’m extremely confident that we’ll have single months, if not single weeks, where there’s a million messages.”
The round was raised for “purely strategic alignment,” Pellegrino said — meaning they didn’t really need the money. The Series B round saw 33 investors participating, including a16z crypto, Circle Ventures, Sequoia Capital, OpenSea, Samsung Next, Christie’s and BOND. The company, which previously raised $135 million in March 2022, has raised over $250 million to date, he added.
“We wanted to make a push into gaming and the APAC market, and all of this [capital] is largely to grow the company there,” Pellegrino said. “If we want to be that layer that connects everything, gaming plays a huge role in that.”
In the long-term, Pellegrino hopes LayerZero’s messaging protocol, and others, continues to create the infrastructure that allows applications to build more complex structures. “Our job is to build the primitive that allows developers to create the best systems they can, whether its games, DeFi applications or something else.”
Telecom
Celebrating African Creativity: Made by Africa, Loved by the World’ Returns for Its Fifth Year
The “Made by Africa, Loved by the World” campaign is back for its fifth year, celebrating African creativity and global influence. This year’s theme, “Where Culture Meets Connection,” highlights how social media fosters conversations around cultural moments worldwide.
The campaign features three cinematic films premiering on the Meta Africa page, showcasing the groundbreaking work and personal stories of six dynamic African creatives.
These artists, from Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa, represent diverse disciplines, including rap, animation, dance, photography, fashion, and videography.
Here are some of the featured talents:
- Ladipoe (Nigeria) – A BET-nominated rapper known for blending global hip-hop with African rhythms.
- Fatboy Animations (Kenya) – An animation studio founded by Michael Muthiga, recognized by Forbes for its original African storytelling.
- Lisa Quama (Ghana) – A dancer who gained fame after appearing in Beyoncé’s “Already” music video.
- Gilbert Asante (Ghana) – A photographer and creative director featured in GQ and Glam Africa.
- David Tlale (South Africa) – A fashion designer whose bold designs have been showcased at major fashion events, including the Met Gala.
- Ofentse Mwase (South Africa) – A filmmaker with over 24 international awards for his unique visual storytelling.
Kezia Anim-Addo, Communications Director for Africa, Middle East & Turkey, emphasized that the campaign not only celebrates individual success stories but also showcases how culture and social media drive meaningful connections and inspiration.
Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), has raised the alarm over a diesel supply crisis caused by an ongoing strike by the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG).
Mr Tony Emoekpere, president, ATCON in a statement said that the fuel supply disruption is critically affecting telecom base stations, pushing them to the brink of a shutdown and threatening millions of mobile and internet users in the region.
“This strike, which stems from the persistent harassment of tanker and petroleum product drivers by police officers in Lagos State, has effectively halted all truck loading operations and fuel movements,” Emoekpere stated.
He explained that diesel supply to telecom infrastructure has been severely impacted, leaving critical sites with dangerously low fuel levels.
According to him, if urgent measures are not taken, the situation could escalate into a full-blown network blackout, disrupting essential services, including mobile and internet access, business operations, emergency response systems, and daily communications.
ATCON has called on the governors of Lagos and Ogun states to intervene immediately by facilitating the release of diesel from depots to telecom operators to prevent further deterioration of the situation.
“This is not just a telecom issue—it is a national emergency that could cripple economic activities and compromise public safety,” Emoekpere stressed.
The association also appealed to security agencies and petroleum unions to resolve the crisis swiftly to safeguard Nigeria’s connectivity and economic stability.
ATCON emphasised that a prolonged disruption in fuel supply to telecom infrastructure could have far-reaching consequences for both businesses and individuals who rely on stable communication networks for daily operations.
In 2023, Nigerians spent a total of about ₦5.3 trillion on telecommunications services, which includes calls, data, SMS, and other telecom services, according to the Leadership.
Specifically for voice calls, Nigerians made approximately 408.5 billion minutes of local calls, generating around ₦3.28 trillion from outgoing calls and ₦3.23 trillion from incoming calls, totaling about ₦6.51 trillion in call-related revenue according to projections based on 2023 call volumes and tariff data.
However, the ₦5.3 trillion figure represents the overall telecom sector revenue, with voice calls being a major component but also including data and other services.
For individual spending, MTN subscribers spent an average of ₦2,508 monthly on voice calls in 2023, showing a 14.4% increase from 2022, while Airtel customers spent about ₦1,694 monthly on voice calls.
Total telecom spending (calls, data, SMS, etc.): ₦5.3 trillion in 2023
Estimated revenue from voice calls alone: around ₦6.5 trillion based on call minutes and tariffs
Average monthly spending on calls per subscriber: ₦1,694 to ₦2,508 depending on the network
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