What Light Protocol does

Light Protocol is a zero-knowledge infrastructure provider for the Solana blockchain, founded in 2021 and headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal. The company operates as a single-product developer infrastructure firm, offering ZK Compression — an open-source compression technology that reduces the cost of creating tokens and Program Derived Addresses (PDAs) on Solana by up to 99% while preserving blockchain security and performance. As of 2026, approximately 90M+ accounts have been created using the technology, which is supported by leading Solana wallets and RPC providers.

Since its founding, Light Protocol has contributed core infrastructure to the Solana ecosystem, including ZK syscalls to the Solana Labs client and various crates used by Anza and other ecosystem participants. In 2024, the company co-developed and launched ZK Compression alongside Helius Labs and the Solana Foundation. On June 10, 2026, Light Protocol was acquired by Helius to integrate zero-knowledge compression and privacy tooling into the RPC layer; ZK Compression remains open source and operations continue without interruption. Light Protocol is now a subsidiary of Helius.

The company serves a horizontal developer and enterprise customer base ranging from early-stage startups to large enterprises through an API-first, community-led go-to-market motion. Distribution channels include self-serve developer documentation at zkcompression.com, a Discord community for developer engagement, and direct technical support via a contact form. Pricing is not publicly disclosed, and no revenue figures are reported in the source data. The company was venture-backed by Polychain Capital, Solana Ventures, Steve Vasallo, Balaji Srinivasan, and other investors prior to the Helius acquisition.

Name

Light Protocol

Legal name

Light Protocol

Website

https://lightprotocol.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Light Protocol offers ZK Compression, an open-source zero-knowledge technology for Solana that cuts token and PDA creation costs by up to 99%. Founded in 2021 and acquired by Helius in June 2026, the company serves developers and enterprises building scalable Solana applications.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Blockchain Infrastructure

akta.pro primary industry

Cryptography, Privacy & Identity Infrastructure (ZK, MPC, DID, key management) (FSAPAAAJ)

Keywords

• Zero-knowledge compression
• Solana infrastructure
• Blockchain scaling
• Developer APIs
• Programmable cryptography

Headquarters

HQ city

Lisbon

HQ country

Portugal

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Light Protocol builds and offers ZK Compression, an open-source compression technology and API layer for the Solana blockchain. The technology uses zero-knowledge proofs to reduce the cost of creating tokens and Program Derived Addresses (PDAs) on Solana by up to 99%, while preserving the security and performance of the Solana blockchain. The product is targeted at developers, startups, and enterprises building applications that need cost-effective scaling of payments, privacy, and PDA management on Solana.

Product overview

Light Protocol is a single-product company offering ZK Compression — an open-source infrastructure and API layer that reduces the cost of creating tokens and PDAs on Solana by up to 99%. The technology is built directly into the Solana blockchain and is supported by leading wallets and RPC providers. The company joined Helius in 2026 to scale ZK and Privacy infrastructure for developers worldwide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ZK Compression ZK Compression is an open-source compression technology that reduces the cost of creating tokens and Program Derived Addresses (PDAs) on the Solana blockchain by up to 99%, while preserving the security and performance of the Solana blockchain. It enables developers, startups, and enterprises to scale payments, privacy, and PDA management on Solana. As of 2026, it is supported by leading wallets and RPC providers with approximately 90M+ accounts created to date.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduces cost of creating tokens and PDAs on Solana by up to 99%
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• HeliuscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 June 2026Helius acquired Light Protocol on June 10, 2026, to integrate zero-knowledge compression and privacy tooling into the RPC layer. Light Protocol has joined Helius to scale ZK and Privacy infrastructure for developers worldwide. ZK Compression remains open source with docs, RPCs, and core tooling continuing without interruption.
• Solana FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Solana Foundation collaborated with Light Protocol and Helius Labs to launch ZK Compression in 2024. The Foundation continues to support privacy infrastructure development as part of the broader Solana ecosystem.
• Helius LabscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHelius Labs co-developed ZK Compression with Light Protocol and the Solana Foundation, launching the technology in 2024. This partnership evolved into the full acquisition of Light Protocol by Helius in June 2026.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Helius: Helius is a leading Solana RPC and developer infrastructure provider that acquired Light Protocol in June 2026. Both operate in the Solana infrastructure layer, with overlapping capabilities around RPC, developer APIs, and protocol-level tooling for Solana builders.
• Triton One: Triton One is a Solana-focused RPC and validator infrastructure provider. It directly competes with Helius in the Solana RPC space and is therefore a peer to Light Protocol's RPC-layer distribution channel for ZK Compression.
• StarkWare: StarkWare is a leading zero-knowledge proof infrastructure company behind StarkNet and STARK proofs. It is the most direct competitor in the ZK infrastructure category, sharing Light Protocol's core focus on ZK-based scaling and cryptographic infrastructure.

Broad incumbents

• Alchemy: Alchemy is a major multi-chain blockchain infrastructure provider offering RPC, APIs, and developer tools. While not Solana-specialized like Light Protocol, it represents the broader infrastructure-as-a-service model that Light's APIs and tooling parallel within the Solana ecosystem.
• QuickNode: QuickNode is a multi-chain blockchain RPC and infrastructure provider serving developers across many chains including Solana. It competes in the same broader infrastructure category as Helius (Light's acquirer) and shares the developer-first API distribution model.
• Chainstack: Chainstack is a blockchain infrastructure platform providing RPC nodes, dedicated nodes, and developer tooling across multiple chains including Solana. It competes with Helius/QuickNode/Alchemy in the broader developer infrastructure category relevant to Light Protocol.

Emerging players

• Polygon Labs: Polygon operates multiple ZK-related scaling solutions (Polygon zkEVM, Polygon Miden, Polygon Plonky3). While multi-chain, its ZK infrastructure efforts are directly comparable to Light Protocol's ZK compression and proof work on Solana.
• Matter Labs (zkSync): Matter Labs builds zkSync, a ZK rollup on Ethereum. It shares Light Protocol's focus on ZK-based scaling infrastructure, though operates in a different chain context (Ethereum L2 vs. Solana L1).
• Aztec Network: Aztec is a ZK-based privacy and scaling infrastructure project for Ethereum. It is comparable to Light Protocol in leveraging zero-knowledge cryptography for on-chain scaling and privacy use cases.
• Axiom: Axiom is a ZK coprocessor for Ethereum that enables smart contracts to compute over historical on-chain data using zero-knowledge proofs. It shares Light Protocol's positioning at the intersection of ZK proofs and developer-facing blockchain infrastructure.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/lightprotocol

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors8 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 Light Protocol