[PRESS RELEASE – Belgrade, Serbia, October 21st, 2025]

Neon Labs, a key developer of the first Solana network extension, Neon EVM, has named Ivan Bjelajac as its new Chief Executive Officer. An entrepreneurial leader and a prominent figure in Web3, Bjelajac will guide the company in refining technical excellence and expanding its commercial efforts. He succeeds Marina Guryeva.

Ivan started his career as an engineer before becoming an entrepreneurial success with a rich background in business strategy, fundraising, investor relations, and market approach, having led six startups to successful exits.

With two decades of leadership experience in web2 technologies and blockchain infrastructure, Bjelajac previously served as Tenderly’s VP of Strategy and contributed to Polygon Edge’s early development. Tenderly currently assists over 100 EVM networks, and Polygon Edge is renowned for its extensive deployment in public and private networks.

“The Neon ecosystem is more than just a connection between Ethereum and Solana; it’s the essential execution layer for the next wave of crypto innovation,” commented Ivan Bjelajac. “Collaborating with the Neon Foundation and partners, we aim to create solutions that provide both liquidity and performance for developers. Running a company with such potential is an exceptional opportunity, and I look forward to unveiling our ambitious plans soon.”

This leadership change coincides with a pivotal moment for the Neon ecosystem as it seeks to enhance developer engagement, unlock Solana-native applications for Ethereum assets, and establish itself as a crucial infrastructure element for institutions in the Solana space.

Marina Guryeva, the co-founder and former CEO, voiced strong confidence in Bjelajac’s selection:

“Ivan offers an extraordinary mix of visionary leadership and practical expertise. He knows how to foster infrastructural growth effectively. I’m thrilled to support him as he elevates the company to new heights.”

Under Bjelajac’s leadership, Neon Labs aims to prioritize:

• Advancing Solana’s Internet Capital Markets vision through network extensions
• Investigating ZK solutions for extending Solana’s capabilities and discovering new applications
• Streamlining the onboarding process for EVM and Solana-native developers
• Promoting public goods infrastructure via open standards and decentralization
• Positioning Neon as the preeminent Ethereum experience within the Solana ecosystem.

About Neon Labs

Neon Labs serves as an independent software development partner for the Neon Foundation, contributing to the Neon EVM open-source project, the first of its kind that integrates Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility into Solana’s robust environment. This integration enables Ethereum developers to deploy EVM dApps on Solana efficiently, without rewriting their contracts in Rust. Neon Labs operates independently and provides R&D services to support the Neon EVM initiative.