What Interchain Foundation does

The Interchain Foundation is a Swiss non-profit foundation, incorporated and headquartered at Gartenstrasse 4, CH-6300 Zug, Switzerland, that funds, develops, and stewards the Cosmos blockchain ecosystem. Founded in 2017, it operates as a neutral steward rather than a commercial entity, funding and maintaining the open-source Cosmos technology stack through grants, equity investments, and direct development via its wholly-owned subsidiaries Cosmos Labs (formerly Interchain Labs) and Interchain GmbH. Cosmos Labs, with a co-led CEO structure and functional heads across engineering, operations, people, marketing, and finance, is the primary operating arm responsible for product development, business development, and ecosystem growth.

The foundation's core technology offering is the Cosmos Stack, an open-source architecture for building scalable, secure, and interconnected Layer 1 blockchains. Its principal components include the IBC Protocol for cross-chain interoperability (used by 100+ chains, with $4 billion in 30-day transfer value across 85+ zones and a 5+ year exploit-free track record), CometBFT (a Byzantine Fault Tolerant consensus engine based on Tendermint), the Cosmos SDK (a framework for building application-specific blockchains), Cosmos EVM (Ethereum compatibility with Solidity support and JSON-RPC), CosmWasm (WebAssembly smart contracts), IBC Eureka (IBC V2 faster-than-finality bridging to non-Cosmos chains), Skip:Go (a unified cross-chain asset API driving $1 billion in monthly volume), and the Cosmos Hub as the central Layer 1. The foundation pursues ecosystem expansion via portfolio investments in projects such as Celestia, Anoma, Regen, IRISnet, Agoric, and Penumbra, and engages in regulatory advocacy through memberships in the Blockchain Association, Coin Center, the European Crypto Initiative, the Proof of Stake Alliance, and the Canadian Web3 Council.

The foundation does not generate commercial revenue. All Cosmos technology is open-source and freely distributed via GitHub, and the foundation is funded through its treasury and grant programs rather than product pricing. Its go-to-market is community-led, with Cosmos Labs handling business development and marketing. Customers are not enterprise buyers in the conventional sense but rather the long tail of blockchain developers and 100+ IBC-connected chains that adopt the stack on a self-serve basis. In 2024 the foundation executed two significant strategic actions: it rebranded Interchain Labs to Cosmos Labs to consolidate product and growth functions, and it acquired Skip to bring cross-chain asset routing infrastructure in-house and refocus the Cosmos Hub at the ecosystem's core.

Name

Interchain Foundation

Legal name

Interchain Foundation

Website

https://interchain.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Interchain Foundation is a Swiss non-profit foundation (founded 2017, headquartered in Zug) that funds, develops, and stewards the open-source Cosmos blockchain ecosystem, including the IBC interoperability protocol, CometBFT consensus engine, Cosmos SDK, and Cosmos EVM, serving 100+ IBC-connected chains and a long tail of blockchain developers via wholly-owned operating subsidiary Cosmos Labs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Blockchain Infrastructure

NAICS

Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)

SIC

Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Cross-Chain Developer Tooling (messaging SDKs, relayers, interoperability APIs) (FSAPABAF)

Keywords

• Blockchain infrastructure
• Cross-chain interoperability
• Open-source protocols
• Layer 1 blockchain
• Decentralized ecosystem

Headquarters

HQ city

Baar

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Foundation Operations: The Interchain Foundation is a non-profit organization that funds and stewards the Cosmos blockchain ecosystem. It operates through grants, investments, and ecosystem stewardship rather than generating commercial revenue.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Interchain Foundation is a Swiss non-profit that funds, develops, and stewards the Cosmos open-source blockchain technology stack. It maintains foundational interoperability protocols (notably IBC), frameworks for building application-specific blockchains (Cosmos SDK), consensus engines (CometBFT), and cross-chain asset movement APIs (Skip:Go). Its operating subsidiary Cosmos Labs handles development, maintenance, and ecosystem growth, while the foundation funds ecosystem expansion through grants and investments.

Product overview

The Interchain Foundation stewards the Cosmos ecosystem, which is a platform-plus-modules architecture centered on the Cosmos Stack. The core offering includes the Cosmos SDK (framework for building application-specific blockchains), CometBFT (BFT consensus engine), Cosmos EVM (Ethereum compatibility layer), and IBC Protocol (interoperability between 100+ chains). Additional modules include Skip:Go (cross-chain asset API), IBC Eureka (V2 bridging), CosmWasm (Wasm smart contracts), and Cosmos Hub (the primary Layer 1 blockchain). Cosmos Labs, a wholly-owned subsidiary, handles product development, maintenance, and ecosystem growth.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Cosmos Stack: An architecture for scalable, secure, and interconnected Layer 1 blockchains and applications utilizing IBC protocol. Includes CometBFT, Cosmos SDK, Cosmos EVM, IBC Protocol, Skip:Go, CosmWasm, and Cosmos Hub.
• IBC Protocol

Products and services

• Cosmos Stack
• IBC Protocol
• Cosmos SDK
• CometBFT
• Cosmos EVM
• Skip:Go
• IBC Eureka
• CosmWasm
• Cosmos Hub

Quantifiable outcome

• IBC Protocol: 100+ chains connected, $4 billion in 30-day transfer volume
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SkipcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2024The Interchain Foundation acquired Skip in September 2024 to refocus the Cosmos Hub at the core of the ecosystem. Skip provides a unified API to move digital assets across blockchains and drives significant volume ($1Bn monthly).
• Asymmetric ResearchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAsymmetric Research provides security research and advisory services for the Cosmos tech stack and organizations within the ecosystem.
• Blockchain AssociationminorOthersThe Interchain Foundation is a member and supporter of the Blockchain Association, working with regulators and policymakers on blockchain policy.
• Coin CenterminorOthersThe Interchain Foundation is a member and supporter of Coin Center, an advocacy organization working on blockchain policy.
• European Crypto Initiative (EUCI)minorOthersThe Interchain Foundation is a member and supporter of the European Crypto Initiative, working on blockchain policy in Europe.
• Proof of Stake AllianceminorOthersThe Interchain Foundation is a member and supporter of the Proof of Stake Alliance, advocating for proof-of-stake blockchain technology.
• Canadian Web3 CouncilminorOthersThe Interchain Foundation is a member and supporter of the Canadian Web3 Council, working on blockchain policy in Canada.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/interchain_io
• GitHubgithub.com/interchainio
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@cosmosblockchain
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/interchain-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A1 record

Investments11 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Interchain Foundation