Eco Inc.

What Eco Inc. does

Eco Inc. is a San Francisco-based blockchain infrastructure company that operates Eco Routes, an intent-based protocol enabling real-time cross-chain stablecoin transfers and swaps. Founded in 2018-2019, the company evolved from consumer-facing applications (Eco App neobank, Bend wallet) to B2B infrastructure serving developers, DeFi protocols, and regulated institutions. Eco Routes uses a modular architecture comprising Portal (non-upgradeable coordination contract), Vault (per-intent CREATE2 escrow), Executor (stateless call-execution contract), and six modular prover types (Circle CCTP, Hyperlane, LayerZero, Polymer, Chainlink CCIP, and Local) for cross-chain verification. Supporting primitives include Crowd Liquidity (permissionless TEE-secured liquidity aggregation via EcoScripts), Permit3 (multi-chain token approvals via Unbalanced Merkle Trees), Programmable Addresses (deterministic smart contract endpoints), and Flash Intents (same-chain routing using user capital). Eco Routes has scaled to nine-figure monthly transaction volume.

The company monetizes through base pool fees charged to solvers and liquidity providers accessing Crowd Liquidity, with solver competition extracting protocol-level economics for cross-chain intent fulfillment and settlement. Eco operates a dual go-to-market: a self-serve API-first developer motion (Routes CLI enabling 5-minute integration, REST API enabling 15-minute integration) targeting protocol developers, alongside an enterprise field-sales motion via Verified Liquidity early access for licensed exchanges, payment platforms, OTC desks, and regulated fintechs requiring KYB-authorized counterparties and audit trails. Eco is venture-backed, having raised approximately $94.5 million cumulatively, with the most recent disclosed round being a $60 million financing in July 2021 co-led by Activant Capital and L Catterton, with a16z crypto, Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Founders Fund, and others participating. The company is led by Co-Founder and CEO Ryne Saxe.

Name

Eco Inc.

Legal name

Eco Inc.

Website

https://eco.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Eco Inc. is a San Francisco-based blockchain infrastructure company operating Eco Routes, an intent-based protocol for real-time cross-chain stablecoin transfers and swaps. It serves developers, DeFi protocols, and regulated institutions needing programmable, compliant stablecoin movement across blockchains.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cross-chain Stablecoin Infrastructure

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320), Securities and Commodity Exchanges (523210)

SIC

Commodity Contracts Brokers & Dealers (6221), Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200)

akta.pro primary industry

Liquidity Bridges & Cross-Chain Swaps (bridge aggregators, intent-based swaps) (FSAPAKAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Liquidity Aggregation & Smart Order Routing (FSADAJAD), Crypto Payments & Stablecoin Settlement Platforms (BPAMAFAL), AML/KYC, KYB & Identity Verification (VASP/Travel Rule) (FSAPAJAC), Cross-Chain Trading & Liquidity Routing (multi-chain swaps, bridge-integrated trading) (FSAPADAJ)

Keywords

• Stablecoin routing
• Cross-chain transfers
• Intent-based settlement
• Programmable liquidity
• Blockchain infrastructure

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Protocol Fees: Eco Routes charges a base pool fee for liquidity access through Crowd Liquidity. Solvers compete on price and speed, and the protocol extracts fees for cross-chain intent fulfillment and settlement.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Eco Inc. operates Eco Routes, an intent-based stablecoin routing protocol that enables real-time cross-chain transfers and swaps with cryptographic execution guarantees and dual-mode fulfillment (settlement via solvers and orchestration using user-supplied funds). The platform is augmented by Crowd Liquidity (permissionless liquidity aggregation), Permit3 (multi-chain token approvals), Programmable Addresses (deterministic smart contract endpoints), and Verified Liquidity (KYB-authorized permissioned fulfillment for regulated institutions). Revenue is generated through protocol fees on cross-chain intent fulfillment and settlement.

Product overview

Eco Inc. builds a platform for programmable stablecoin movement across every major blockchain. The core product is Eco Routes, an intent-based protocol for real-time stablecoin sends and swaps with cryptographic execution guarantees and dual-mode fulfillment (settlement and orchestration). This platform layer is augmented by supporting primitives: Permit3 enables multi-chain token approvals with single signatures; Crowd Liquidity provides permissionless liquidity aggregation; and Programmable Addresses enable automated actions on fund receipt. The Verified Liquidity add-on extends the core with KYB-authorized counterparties and audit trails for regulated institutions. The architecture separates concerns across Portal (coordination), Vault (escrow), Executor (execution), and modular Provers (verification via Chainlink CCIP, Hyperlane, LayerZero, Polymer, and Circle CCTP), supporting both settlement mode (solver-supplied liquidity) and orchestration mode (user's own funds via flash-loan style fulfillment).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Eco Routes: Intent-based product for real-time stablecoin transfers and swaps across chains with cryptographic execution guarantees and dual-mode fulfillment.
• Crowd Liquidity
• Verified Liquidity
• Programmable Addresses
• Permit3
• Flash Intents

Products and services

• Eco Routes Intent-based product for real-time stablecoin sends and swaps across chains, built for institutional scale and reliability. Users sign a desired outcome; solvers compete to fulfill it; the source-chain vault releases the reward only on cryptographic proof.
• Crowd Liquidity A permissionless liquidity aggregation protocol that incentivizes market makers, vault curators, and stablecoin LPs to make their liquidity available to Eco's solvers and vaults on a flash-borrow basis for cross-chain transactions.
• Verified Liquidity A permissioned fulfillment lane on Eco Routes where every liquidity provider is KYB-authorized, every transaction is screened before settlement, and every completed transfer ships with an audit record built for regulatory compliance.
• Programmable Addresses Smart contract addresses that perform automated actions (swap, bridge, deposit, split) the moment funds are received, functioning as deterministic permanent endpoints any sender can use from any chain.
• Flash Intents A routing mode in Eco Routes for same-chain stablecoin orders where solvers can offer superior routing logic using the user's own capital without needing solver liquidity, enabling atomic execution for larger order sizes.
• Permit3 An open-source multi-chain token approval protocol extending Permit2 that enables token permissions across multiple chains with a single signature and full gas abstraction through Unbalanced Merkle Trees.
• Eco Portal The canonical coordination interface for Eco Routes, tracking each intent from creation through settlement in a single shared system of record. Non-upgradeable and trust-minimized.
• EcoScripts Executable code that has been reviewed and approved via protocol governance to access Crowd Liquidity safely and profitably. Runs inside TEEs with remote attestation for solver, rebalancing, validation, and auction logic.
• Verified Counterparty Network Part of Verified Liquidity, ensuring every solver that can fulfill intents has completed full institutional onboarding review including KYB, source-of-funds audit, beneficial ownership tracing, and AML/CFT program review.

Quantifiable outcome

• Routes scaled to nine-figure monthly transaction volume
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

Feature9 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Across Protocol: Across is an intent-based cross-chain bridge protocol that uses a network of relayers to fulfill user transfers across rollups and L1s. It directly competes with Eco Routes for cross-chain stablecoin intent volume, and Eco explicitly lists Across as a protocol that can leverage Crowd Liquidity composably.
• Socket (Bungee): Socket operates Bungee, a cross-chain liquidity aggregation protocol that routes stablecoin and token swaps across multiple bridges. Eco's Crowd Liquidity documentation explicitly cites Bungee's Open Liquidity Network as a design influence and potential integration target, making them direct comparables in the cross-chain aggregation space.
• Stargate (LayerZero): Stargate is LayerZero's native asset bridge focused on stablecoins and unified liquidity pools across chains. Both Eco and Stargate compete for cross-chain stablecoin routing volume, with Stargate offering deep liquidity on major chains while Eco differentiates on multi-prover verification and intent-based architecture.
• deBridge: deBridge is a cross-chain interoperability protocol offering messaging and swap functionality across EVM and non-EVM chains. It competes with Eco Routes for cross-chain stablecoin transfer volume, particularly for users prioritizing direct bridge execution over intent-based settlement.
• Wormhole: Wormhole is a cross-chain messaging protocol with a Portal bridge for token transfers across 30+ chains. It competes with Eco for cross-chain stablecoin routing and is one of the largest bridge protocols by transaction volume, serving similar institutional and DeFi clients.
• Squid Router (Axelar): Squid is a cross-chain swap router built on Axelar's generalized messaging network, enabling token swaps across chains via single-click intents. It directly competes with Eco Routes for stablecoin routing volume, with similar target users (DeFi protocols and end users needing cross-chain liquidity).
• Connext: Connext is a cross-chain intents and bridging protocol that pioneered the 'intents-based' architecture now adopted by Eco and Across. It competes for the same cross-chain stablecoin routing market and uses similar solver-based fulfillment mechanics for xChain transfers.
• Li.Fi: Li.Fi is a cross-chain bridge and DEX aggregation protocol that routes swaps and bridges across multiple underlying protocols. It competes with Eco for cross-chain routing volume, particularly at the developer-integration layer where both target wallets and dApps needing multi-chain execution.
• THORChain: THORChain is a decentralized liquidity network enabling native cross-chain swaps without wrapped assets. It competes with Eco for cross-chain stablecoin routing volume, though THORChain focuses on native swaps while Eco specializes in stablecoin intents with multi-prover verification.

Broad incumbents

• Circle (CCTP): Circle operates CCTP (Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol), which Eco uses as one of its six prover types. Circle is both a partner and a potential competitive threat: its native USDC transfer infrastructure could disintermediate intent-based routers for simple cross-chain transfers, though Eco's broader routing and compliance features address more complex institutional use cases.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/eco
• GitHubgithub.com/eco
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@ecoprotocol
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/eco-incorp
• Facebookfacebook.com/eco

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors22 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Eco Inc.