Automata was founded in 2019 by a team of blockchain developers and researchers, including previous founding members of [Ziliqa](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/zilliqa/). Co-founder Zheng Leong Chua holds a PhD in computer science from the National University of Singapore, while the other co-founder Deli Gong previously worked at Ziliqa as infrastructure lead. In total, the team numbers 11 people and has been a recipient of Web3 Grant (2020), a participant of the Web 3.0 Bootcamp (2020), Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator (2021), and Polkadot Decoded Mainstage speaker (2021). The team’s investors include illustrious names like KR1, Alameda Research, founded by [FTX](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ftx-token/) CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, IOSG Ventures, Divergence Capital, Genesis Block Ventures and Jump Trading.