CasperLabs, a startup building an open-source blockchain platform aimed to achieve scale without sacrificing decentralization, has raised $14.5 million in a Series A funding round.

The round was led by financier Terren Piezer – known as the "Zelig of Wall Street" – via his personal holding company, Acuitas Group Holdings. Arrington XRP Capital, Consensus Capital, Axiom Holdings Group, Digital Strategies, MW Partners, Blockchange Ventures, Hashkey Capital, and Distributed Global also participated.

CasperLabs said in an announcement on Tuesday that the new funds will be used to speed up product development and bring more engineers on board.

The startup launched in February with Ethereum Foundation researcher Vlad Zamfir serving as lead consensus protocol architect. The project aims to build a new blockchain based on a version of proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus protocol – specifically Zamfir’s Correct-by-Construction (CBC) Casper PoS.

The firm said it is working to solve the "'trilemma' of scale, decentralization, and security, but is also developer-friendly to build and operate apps."

CasperLabs anticipates issuing several "interesting" technical updates in the coming months, according to Mrinal Manohar co-founder and CEO of CasperLabs' parent firm ADAPtive Holdings.

“I’ve been following and studying the crypto and blockchain space since its earliest days, and I’ve been waiting for a company that can build the strength and decentralized aspects of a public chain with the speed, security, and scalability of a next-gen platform,” said lead investor Piezer, adding:

Vlad Zamfir image via Web3 Foundation/YouTube