Solana Labs to open new office at the old Sunshine Cinema

In 2021 Solana Labs raised around $40 million in venture capital, bringing its total to $60 million. Solana Labs also raised two undisclosed funding rounds this year, but it’s unclear how much money the company has or whether it has revenue.

Solana Labs has 67 full-time employees and Solana Foundation, a nonprofit foundation based in Switzerland that seeks to secure and promote the Solana ecosystem, has 52 full-time employees. The company did not disclose its rent. In 2019 the developers secured nearly $90 million in funding and told Crain’s at the time that they planned to seek rents above $100 per square foot.

The office launch was welcomed by Andrew Kimball, president and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corp. He has underscored the city’s support for the cryptocurrency industry, even as the sector emerges from last year’s crash and major players in the industry face litigation from state regulators from state regulators.

“New York City is a global leader in technology, culture, art and finance,” Kimball said in a statement. “It has all the ingredients to be the global epicenter of web3, just like Silicon Valley was the epicenter of web2.”

Solana Labs is positioning three-quarters of the new office as a collaboration and events space, where other New York-based companies building on the Solana blockchain will be able to work and host get-togethers. Any company using Solana can apply to work in the space; if selected, that company can use desk space for free. One local firm that supports Solana integration is Ceramic, a database that supports users on Solana’s blockchain

“The New York office shows our commitment to fostering the crypto ecosystem in New York,” said Raj Gokal, co-founder of Solana Labs. “At a time when most are shying away from office space, we’re doubling down and making sure early-stage entrepreneurs have a place to build and collaborate.”

Solana Labs’ lease will last 10 years, the company said.

Gary Vaynerchuk’s Flyfish Club, a private restaurant where members buy in with non-fungible tokens, will occupy 11,000 square feet on the first three floors of the building, Vaynerchuk announced in November 2022. The companies are not related, “but it’s great to have other web3 orgs in the same building,” said Arielle Pennington, head of communications at Solana Foundation, a Swiss-based group that works to foster wider adoption of the Solana blockchain by web3 firms.

The building at 141 E. Houston St., between Eldridge and Forsyth streets, occupies the space where Sunshine Cinema once screened independent and foreign films for downtown New Yorkers. An attempt by Mark Cuban’s Landmark Theatres to acquire Sunshine and turn it into a dine-in movie theater failed when the local community board rejected its liquor license application. The building was then sold to East End Capital and K Property Group for $31.5 million in 2017. The owners soon filed plans for a 9-story office building catering to small and midsize companies and demolished the old Sunshine.