Forte Labs Inc.

To empower developers to create safe, compliant, and thriving digital economies by providing seamless on-chain regulatory and economic tools.

Based in San Francisco and founded in 2018, Forte Labs builds compliance and economic control software for Web3 and virtual asset projects. The company's core product, the Forte Rules Engine, helps teams manage on-chain activity by defining transparent, enforceable rules around minting, transfers, burning, lockups, sanctions screening, and wallet validation. Originally focused on gaming projects integrating blockchain technology and player-owned economies, Forte has expanded to serve broader token-driven blockchain applications. The platform supports Ethereum and Polygon, with additional chains planned. Forte positions itself as the infrastructure layer that brings regulatory alignment to decentralized environments, working with compliance partners including entities holding NYDFS BitLicense approval.

Products

The flagship product is the Forte Rules Engine, a free, open-source compliance solution that allows developers to define and enforce on-chain economic controls without advanced coding expertise. The platform supports KYC-related guardrails, wallet validation, transaction limits, sanctions screening, vesting schedules for airdrops, and token minting/burning controls. Forte also offers the ZK Policy Engine for privacy-preserving compliance and FortePay, an integrated payment solution bridging fiat and crypto transactions with global card network processing and tiered KYC/AML verification. The tools work across EVM-compatible chains and provide programmable asset protection for gaming projects and blockchain applications.

Funding

Forte Labs has raised over $900 million in total funding. The company secured a $185 million Series A led by Griffin Gaming Partners in early 2021, followed by a massive $725 million Series B co-led by Sea Capital and Kora Management in November 2021. Other prominent backers include Andreessen Horowitz, Animoca Brands, Battery Ventures, Tiger Global, Warner Music Group, and Solana Ventures. The company's valuation reached between $815 million and $1 billion as of May 2021. No public funding rounds have occurred since 2021.

Recent news

In July 2025, Forte and its subsidiary LemmaX announced a strategic partnership with Sequence to integrate FortePay into the Sequence platform infrastructure, providing an end-to-end Web3 payment solution for fiat and cryptocurrency transactions.

Technology

The engineering foundation centers on the Forte Rules Engine, an EVM-compatible layer incorporating open-source circuit breakers, KYC modules, and AML filters. The platform supports Ethereum and Polygon networks, with Binance and other chains coming soon. Forte leverages the Interledger Protocol and XRP for cross-chain interoperability, Codius for container-based hosting, and integrates Zero-Knowledge Proofs through their ZK Policy Engine. The web infrastructure uses Vue.js for frontend development, Amazon S3 for storage, Cloudflare for content delivery, and Solidity for smart contract development across supported blockchain networks.

Benefits

Forte Labs operates as a fully remote company with employees distributed globally. Recent reports surrounding the company's acquisition of game developer Phoenix Labs have highlighted cultural challenges, including strict secrecy policies, severed cross-team communication, and confusion among employees about company ownership and benefits administration. The abrupt cancellation of company-wide town halls reportedly caused significant drops in staff morale. Specific benefit details beyond remote work flexibility are not publicly available.