{"id":"raouf-ben-har","title":"Raouf Ben-Har","content":"**Raouf Ben-Har** is a co-founder of Andalusia Labs, creator of the [Karak Network](https://iq.wiki/wiki/karak), a universal security layer. He is based in Palo Alto, CA, and is also building a project called OpenGDP. [\\[1\\]](#cite-id-3t0x8wxffg2) [\\[3\\]](#cite-id-S8zLRccGOIQwBfU3)​\n\n## Career\n\nBen-Har started out as a software engineer intern at various companies, including Google, TikTok, AWS, and Goldman Sachs. In 2021, he became an associate product manager at [Coinbase](https://iq.wiki/wiki/coinbase), where he met [Drew Patel](https://iq.wiki/wiki/drew-patel). Together, they co-founded Andalusia Labs. [\\[1\\]](#cite-id-3t0x8wxffg2)​\n\n### Andalusia Labs\n\nIn 2021, Ben-Har and [Patel](https://iq.wiki/wiki/drew-patel) co-founded Andalusia Labs, which is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA. The company, which specializes in blockchain security and artificial intelligence, began as a stealth startup named RiskHarbor, a risk management marketplace for [DeFi](https://iq.wiki/wiki/defi) platforms. After rebranding the company to Andalusia Labs, the [Karak](https://iq.wiki/wiki/karak) [mainnet](https://iq.wiki/wiki/mainnet) was released in April 2024. Andalusia Labs achieved a unicorn valuation of over 48 million in Series A funding. The round was supported by investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mubadala, [Coinbase](https://iq.wiki/wiki/coinbase), [Bain Capital](https://iq.wiki/wiki/bain-capital-ventures), [Pantera Capital](https://iq.wiki/wiki/pantera-capital), [Framework Ventures](https://iq.wiki/wiki/framework-ventures), Digital Currency Group, Proof Group, and Nima Capital, with participation from angel investors like Naval Ravikant and [Arthur Hayes](https://iq.wiki/wiki/arthur-hayes). [\\[1\\]](#cite-id-3t0x8wxffg2)​[\\[2\\]](#cite-id-wq76mpgxzq)​[\\[4\\]](#cite-id-DIF7BGLREGawqaHu)​\n\n## Interviews\n\n### Building Karak\n\nBlockworks interviewed Ben-Har and [Patel](https://iq.wiki/wiki/drew-patel) about [Karak](https://iq.wiki/wiki/karak) and its purpose in the [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) industry. He shared the main reason why they created [Karak](https://iq.wiki/wiki/karak): [\\[2\\]](#cite-id-wq76mpgxzq)​\n\n> “They were struggling to bootstrap their own economic security and suffered from highly dilutive reward mechanisms, which was unfortunate, especially for critical infrastructure like bridges, \\[oracles] - (\\[<https://iq.wiki/wiki/oracle>] - (<https://iq.wiki/wiki/oracle>)) and other infrastructure layers…We envisioned \\[Karak] - (\\[<https://iq.wiki/wiki/karak>] - (<https://iq.wiki/wiki/karak>)) as the key to unlocking this new era of innovation. Similar to how AWS made it easy and affordable for developers to access and build on the cloud, we wanted to make it easy and affordable for developers to access and build on any trust network.”\n\nHe also discussed how the restaking protocol can use other assets beyond [ETH](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum) without risking economic security: [\\[2\\]](#cite-id-wq76mpgxzq)​\n\n> “Many assets have lower opportunity costs versus \\[ETH] - (\\[<https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum>] - (<https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum>)), meaning the \\[VaaS] has an easier and much more viable path to sustainable yields…There are billions of untapped assets, like stTIA, \\[ARB] - (\\[<https://iq.wiki/wiki/arbitrum-arb>] - (<https://iq.wiki/wiki/arbitrum-arb>)), and many others, with very few yield opportunities to create sustainable flywheels for VaaS building in their ecosystem. Each ecosystem is different and has its own unique protocols that will create different VaaSs designed on top of their assets. There is no one-size-fits-all for every chain.”","summary":"Raouf Ben-Har is a computer scientist, co-founder of Andalusia Labs, and creator of the Karak Network, with past experience at companies like Google and Coinbase.","images":[{"id":"QmbujNwc2wmKLmpu4ydpaWjprikVw1RKTzkHAY9rmP8RjS","type":"image/jpeg, image/png"}],"categories":[{"id":"people","title":"people"}],"tags":[{"id":"Founders"},{"id":"PeopleInDeFi"}],"media":[],"metadata":[{"id":"twitter_profile","value":"https://twitter.com/raoufbenhar?lang=en"},{"id":"linkedin_profile","value":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/raoufbenhar/"},{"id":"github_profile","value":"https://github.com/raoufbenhar"},{"id":"references","value":"[{\"id\":\"3t0x8wxffg2\",\"url\":\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/raoufbenhar/\",\"description\":\"Raouf Ben-Har | LinkedIn\",\"timestamp\":1713289086492},{\"id\":\"wq76mpgxzq\",\"url\":\"https://blockworks.co/news/universal-restaking-layer-andalusia-labs\",\"description\":\"Karak wants to introduce 'universal restaking' | Blockworks\",\"timestamp\":1713289277927},{\"id\":\"S8zLRccGOIQwBfU3\",\"url\":\"https://x.com/raoufbenhar\",\"description\":\"Raouf Ben-Har X Profile\",\"timestamp\":1770915537532},{\"id\":\"DIF7BGLREGawqaHu\",\"url\":\"https://www.linkedin.com/company/andalusialabs0\",\"description\":\"Andalusia Labs LinkedIn\",\"timestamp\":1770915537532}]"},{"id":"previous_cid","value":"\"https://ipfs.everipedia.org/ipfs/QmcvtJrHN7oPd17nMozrH6XZutqREk3t8GMBK2fhqfMWtB\""},{"id":"commit-message","value":"\"Removed page content for Raouf Ben-Har\""},{"id":"previous_cid","value":"QmcvtJrHN7oPd17nMozrH6XZutqREk3t8GMBK2fhqfMWtB"}],"events":[],"user":{"id":"0x8af7a19a26d8fbc48defb35aefb15ec8c407f889"},"author":{"id":"0x8af7a19a26d8fbc48defb35aefb15ec8c407f889"},"operator":{"id":"0x212Cb3F4aE6611054637f9f78F18fB628AD258bb"},"language":"en","version":1,"linkedWikis":{"blockchains":[],"founders":[],"speakers":[]},"recentActivity":"{\"items\":[{\"id\":\"9a1bc315-fb2a-40a7-a9df-5f92a04cc5b4\",\"title\":\"Raouf Ben-Har\",\"description\":\"Raouf Ben-Har is a computer scientist, co-founder of Andalusia Labs, and creator of the Karak Network, with past experience at companies like Google and Coinbase.\",\"timestamp\":\"2026-02-12T17:28:40.964Z\",\"category\":\"people\",\"status\":{\"icon\":\"RiGlobalLine\",\"label\":\"Wiki Updated\",\"iconClassName\":\"text-green-500\"},\"user\":{\"name\":\"0xacb6c5AD52b8f605299B0d774CE97F26e3DB80c2\",\"address\":\"0x212Cb3F4aE6611054637f9f78F18fB628AD258bb\"},\"button\":{\"label\":\"View Summary\",\"icon\":\"RiFileTextLine\"},\"summarySections\":[{\"title\":\"Introduction\",\"subtitle\":\"Updated the introduction with personal details and information about a new project.\",\"variant\":\"modified\",\"changeCount\":1,\"changes\":[\"Added that Raouf Ben-Har is based in Palo Alto, CA, and is building a project called OpenGDP [[1]](#cite-id-3t0x8wxffg2) [[3]](#cite-id-S8zLRccGOIQwBfU3).\"]},{\"title\":\"Education\",\"subtitle\":\"The entire 'Education' section was removed from the article.\",\"variant\":\"removed\",\"changeCount\":1,\"changes\":[\"Removed the section detailing Raouf Ben-Har's graduation from the University of Pennsylvania.\"]},{\"title\":\"Career\",\"subtitle\":\"Minor wording changes were made to the Career section.\",\"variant\":\"modified\",\"changeCount\":1,\"changes\":[\"Changed the opening phrase from 'After graduation, Ben-Har worked' to 'Ben-Har started out'.\"]},{\"title\":\"Andalusia Labs\",\"subtitle\":\"Expanded details about Andalusia Labs' history, funding, and investors.\",\"variant\":\"modified\",\"changeCount\":3,\"changes\":[\"Added the company's founding year (2021), headquarters in Palo Alto, CA, and specialization in blockchain security and artificial intelligence.\",\"Updated funding information to state that Andalusia Labs 'achieved a unicorn valuation of over 48 million' [[1]](#cite-id-3t0x8wxffg2)[[2]](#cite-id-wq76mpgxzq)[[4]](#cite-id-DIF7BGLREGawqaHu).\",\"Expanded the list of investors and participants to include Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mubadala, Digital Currency Group, Proof Group, Nima Capital, Naval Ravikant, and Arthur Hayes [[1]](#cite-id-3t0x8wxffg2)[[2]](#cite-id-wq76mpgxzq)[[4]](#cite-id-DIF7BGLREGawqaHu).\"]},{\"title\":\"Building Karak\",\"subtitle\":\"Updated the formatting of internal links within the interview quotes.\",\"variant\":\"modified\",\"changeCount\":1,\"changes\":[\"Modified the internal link formatting for 'oracles', 'Karak', 'ETH', and 'ARB' inside the quoted text [[2]](#cite-id-wq76mpgxzq).\"]},{\"title\":\"References\",\"subtitle\":\"Two new references were added.\",\"variant\":\"modified\",\"changeCount\":2,\"changes\":[\"Added new reference: 'Raouf Ben-Har X Profile'.\",\"Added new reference: 'Andalusia Labs LinkedIn'.\"]}]}]}"}