Eclipse Names New CEO Following Neel Somani’s Departure

• Eclipse Labs has named a new CEO.
• The blockchain firm said its founder and current CEO “is departing.”
• The CEO’s departure comes amid sexual harassment allegations.

Blockchain firm Eclipse announced on Thursday that Vijay Chetty, its chief growth officer, has been appointed as the firm’s new CEO following Neel Somani’s departure.

Somani’s unceremonious exit comes after he acknowledged but denied sexual harassment allegations in a May 9 X (Twitter) post , noting that he would “temporarily” scale down his role as a public face for Eclipse while he worked to “clear” his name.

Chetty Takes Over from Neel Somani

On May 16, Eclipse issued an operational update on X, naming the new executive for Eclipse Labs.

“Effective immediately, Vijay Chetty will be named CEO of Eclipse Labs, taking over for Neel Somani who is departing. Chetty will be elevated from Chief Growth Officer and will assume all responsibilities of CEO,” the update read.

The blockchain firm said Chetty brings a wealth of crypto-native experience to the helm. He previously held key leadership roles at Ripple Labs, Uniswap Labs, and dYdX Trading, in addition to his investing experience at BlackRock.

While Eclipse didn’t issue much details about the operational update, Web3 venture capital firm Hack VC lauded the move, noting that it was “deeply troubled” by the sexual harassment allegations leveled against Somani.

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“Since learning about the allegations, we worked hard with other investors and the team to correct the situation, including urging Neel to resign, and we are pleased to see that happen,” the firm wrote on X.

Hack VC co-led Eclipse’s $50M of Series A funding in March alongside Placeholder. Other notable participants in the round included Polychain Capital, Delphi Digital, Maven 11, DBA, Apollo-managed funds, and Fenbushi Capital.

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