Startup profile for Oasis Labs: latest funding, latest known valuation, total disclosed funding, investors, status, sources, and why the company is interesting. Part of the Venture Capital Tracker startup directory.
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Oasis Labs funding, valuation and investors

Privacy-first blockchain and confidential compute platform founded by UC Berkeley professor Dawn Song.

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Funding, valuation & investors

Answer-first snapshot

Latest funding

Not publicly disclosed

Latest known valuation

Not publicly disclosed

Total disclosed equity funding

Not publicly disclosed

Excludes debt, grants, acquisitions, secondaries, and IPO proceeds.

Current status

private

growth · San Francisco, California, USA

Source links not recorded Last verified: 2026-07-25

Overview

Oasis Labs builds the Oasis Network, a layer-1 blockchain designed for confidential smart contracts and privacy-preserving compute. Founded by Dawn Song, a MacArthur fellow and UC Berkeley computer science professor, the project combines secure enclaves with a proof-of-stake network so apps can process sensitive data without exposing it on-chain. a16z crypto led a $45M private token pre-sale in July 2018 — reportedly the fund’s first investment. The network supports DeFi, data tokenization, and enterprise partnerships; Oasis ParaTimes allow modular execution environments including an EVM-compatible layer.

Why Oasis Labs is interesting

a16z crypto’s first dedicated-fund bet (2018 $45M token sale) on confidential smart contracts — Dawn Song’s team aimed to give enterprises AWS-like cloud with cryptographic privacy guarantees.

Product & use cases

Oasis Network is a privacy-enabled L1 blockchain with confidential ParaTimes for smart contracts that hide contract state and compute. Developers build DeFi, identity, and data-sharing apps where sensitive inputs stay encrypted during execution via trusted execution environments (TEEs).

  • Confidential DeFi where transaction amounts and positions stay private
  • Tokenizing and sharing sensitive datasets with on-chain access control
  • Enterprise pilots requiring auditability without public data exposure
  • Cross-chain bridges and EVM-compatible apps on Oasis Sapphire ParaTime

Key facts

  • Token pre-sale (Jul 2018): $45M led by a16z crypto — TechCrunch, PR Newswire
  • Founded by Dawn Song, MacArthur fellow and UC Berkeley professor
  • Reported as a16z crypto fund’s first investment
  • Mainnet launched 2020; Sapphire confidential EVM ParaTime followed
  • Co-investors not in VCT directory: Accel, Binance, Pantera, Polychain, Electric Capital

Funding history (newest first)

Token pre-sale

2018-07 $45M

Source: https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/12/oasis-labs-raises-45-million-for-privacy-focused-cloud-computing-on-the-blockchain/

Investors in our directory

Funds linked from Oasis Labs's profile — open a fund page for stage focus and related deal articles.

Andreessen Horowitz

Competitive landscape

Edge: Academic pedigree (Dawn Song’s security research) and early a16z crypto backing gave Oasis credibility in confidential compute — a niche where few L1s combine TEEs with general smart contracts at scale.

Privacy chains compete on developer UX, liquidity, and trust model (TEE vs ZK). Oasis’s modular ParaTime design allows EVM compatibility on Sapphire while keeping privacy features optional. Market adoption has been slower than general-purpose L1s; the bet is enterprise and regulated use cases where public blockchains fail compliance. Token economics and ecosystem grants drive builder activity.

  • Secret Network direct

    Privacy-focused smart contract chain using TEEs; similar confidential compute thesis with different ecosystem traction.

  • Aztec direct

    ZK-based private Ethereum L2; stronger on ZK privacy vs Oasis’s TEE approach.

  • Ethereum + L2s incumbent

    Default developer stack; most apps accept public transparency unless they explicitly need Oasis-style confidentiality.

  • AWS Nitro Enclaves adjacent

    Centralized confidential compute for enterprises; Oasis offers decentralized network guarantees instead.

Notable stories

  • Dawn Song co-founded Oasis after decades of academic work on software security and trustworthy systems — the project explicitly bridges Berkeley research and commercial blockchain deployment.
  • a16z’s 2018 Oasis investment opened its dedicated crypto fund, signaling institutional bet on privacy infrastructure before DeFi summer.

Industries

Crypto & Web3 Enterprise SaaS Infrastructure & Cloud

Related funding articles

Venture Capital Tracker pieces that cover Oasis Labs's financing or category context.

FAQs about Oasis Labs

Practical answers founders, operators, and investors typically search for.

Oasis Labs develops the Oasis Network, a layer-1 blockchain built for confidential smart contracts and privacy-preserving applications using secure enclaves and modular ParaTimes.
Dawn Song, a UC Berkeley computer science professor and MacArthur fellow, founded Oasis Labs. She is a prominent researcher in software security and blockchain.
Andreessen Horowitz (/fund/andreessen-horowitz) led a $45M private token pre-sale in July 2018, reported as a16z crypto’s first investment.
Sapphire is Oasis’s confidential EVM-compatible ParaTime where smart contract state and inputs can remain encrypted during execution — enabling private DeFi and data apps.
Ethereum mainnet transactions and contract state are public by default. Oasis adds optional confidentiality via TEEs and separate ParaTimes, targeting apps that cannot expose sensitive data on-chain.
The Oasis Network mainnet went live in 2020 following the 2018 token sale and testnet phases. Check oasisprotocol.org for current network status.
Both use TEE-based confidential smart contracts. Oasis emphasizes modular ParaTimes and academic founding team; Secret Network has its own Cosmos-based history and DeFi ecosystem.
ROSE is Oasis Network’s native token used for staking, transaction fees, and network governance. It was distributed partly through the 2018 private sale.
Oasis Labs is the core development company; the Oasis Protocol Foundation supports ecosystem growth. Both relate to the Oasis Network blockchain.
Yes — confidential compute use cases include healthcare data sharing, private DeFi, and regulated industries that need blockchain audit trails without public data exposure.
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