Eclipse founder Neel Somani steps down as executive chairman to focus on machine learning research.
TL;DR
Neel Somani, founder of Ethereum L2 protocol Eclipse, stepped down as executive chairman in October 2025 to focus on machine learning research. The move was pre-planned and does not affect his equity or board power.
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According to Foresight News , citing The Block, Neel Somani, founder of the Ethereum L2 protocol Eclipse, has stepped down as executive chairman in October 2025. Somani stated that this move is to dedicate himself full-time to machine learning and other intellectual research.
Neel Somani founded the company in 2022, raising $15 million in seed funding to build scaling solutions using the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM). In 2023, the company shifted its focus to building high-performance Ethereum L2, and after completing a $50 million Series A funding round in 2024, he transitioned from CEO to Executive Chairman. These changes were founder-led and pre-planned, and did not involve any changes in his equity or board power.