Parity Technologies

Parity Technologies develops open-source software and infrastructure for blockchain networks and the decentralized web. The company describes itself as a global collective of software engineers whose work focuses on the technologies behind Polkadot. Working with the Web3 Foundation, Parity helped complete Polkadot’s launch in 2020 and continues to contribute to the network’s technical development.

The company’s history dates to 2015, when a team led by Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood and former Ethereum Chief of Security Jutta Steiner founded ETHCore. Parity’s account of its early work highlights a Rust blockchain client and the Parity Ethereum client, followed by a shift toward developing Polkadot and infrastructure for interoperable blockchain networks. The company says its consistent aim has been to build an open, decentralized web in which users have greater ownership over their online interactions and data.

A central part of Parity’s work is the Polkadot SDK, a modular blockchain development toolkit that enables developers to create customized blockchains. The company also develops and maintains protocol software and other infrastructure for the Polkadot ecosystem. Its engineering areas include distributed systems, cryptography, runtime design, protocol development, and developer tooling.

Parity’s software is used by developers and teams building blockchain networks and applications. The company describes its tooling as supporting the development and operation of decentralized systems, and its history notes that Substrate has been used to build Polkadot parachains as well as networks outside the ecosystem. Parity also works with other teams in the Polkadot ecosystem on developer experience, including tools and services intended to make it easier to test and deploy projects.

The company’s stated priorities include resilient technical infrastructure, open-source collaboration, and long-term development rather than short-term trends. Parity presents Polkadot as infrastructure designed around decentralization, scalability, resilience, and security, and says it works with business development teams to support real-world use cases and enterprise adoption. Its public materials emphasize engineering depth and solving difficult, open-ended technical problems.

Parity has been remote-first since its early days and operates as a globally distributed organization. The company describes asynchronous collaboration across continents and time zones, alongside in-person retreats, team meetups, and technical workshops. It also cites mentorship, learning budgets, technical knowledge-sharing, and opportunities to contribute to open-source projects as features of its working environment.

Parity’s culture materials emphasize autonomy, thoughtful debate, diverse perspectives, and technical reasoning. The company says it values self-directed contributors who take responsibility for their work, challenge assumptions, and share knowledge across disciplines. Its engineers and collaborators work on infrastructure intended to support a more open and user-owned internet, with ongoing efforts centered on Polkadot and the tools developers need to build on it.