At Web Summit Vancouver, Bryan Pellegrino, co-founder and CEO of LayerZero, credited the company’s meteoric rise—from $0 to a $3 billion valuation in just 18 months—to unwavering conviction, obsessive focus, and deep technical debate.
Speaking on a panel about the entrepreneur’s journey, Pellegrino emphasized that founders must be “unnaturally obsessed” with their mission to survive the inevitable challenges of startup life.
LayerZero’s founding team—college roommates with a decade-long history of building together—took a methodical, product-first approach. They bootstrapped for years before raising early capital with a clear plan and minimal risk for investors. Their intense preparation enabled them to secure eight term sheets in eight days, culminating in a dual-led round from Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz.
Pellegrino also stressed the importance of momentum in fundraising, noting that their biggest valuation leap—from $300M to $1.5B—was driven by strategic timing and investor interest, not aggressive fundraising. “We weren’t chasing capital—investors were chasing us,” he said.
On culture, Pellegrino revealed LayerZero’s insistence on excellence and in-person collaboration. “We’re 100% in-person,” he said. “People move here to work on this problem because they care.” That shared intensity, combined with high hiring standards, keeps the company’s mission and culture aligned—even as it scales.
With $240 billion in asset issuers and billions flowing through its protocol weekly, LayerZero is now shifting its focus toward long-term strategic growth. As institutions lean into blockchain, Pellegrino said his role is to identify the bold moves that will shape the company’s next chapter.
Headquartered in Vancouver, LayerZero has become one of the city’s standout tech success stories.
As Mayor Ken Sim noted in a press conference at the event, “There’s a person by the name of Bryan. He sold his first company, I think, in 2016 and was looking for a home. He toured Hong Kong, London, Singapore, fell in love with Vancouver. And he decided to set up shop here… Now, today, that company is based in Vancouver. It has a valuation of $3.2 billion, and it’s creating hundreds of jobs in blockchain technology.”
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