diff --git a/application.ts b/application.ts
index 62998009..d9e145af 100644
--- a/application.ts
+++ b/application.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,11 @@ import { Context } from "./context.ts";
 import { KeyStack, Status, STATUS_TEXT } from "./deps.ts";
 import { HttpServer } from "./http_server_native.ts";
 import { NativeRequest } from "./http_server_native_request.ts";
-import { compose, Middleware } from "./middleware.ts";
+import {
+  compose,
+  isMiddlewareObject,
+  type MiddlewareOrMiddlewareObject,
+} from "./middleware.ts";
 import { cloneState } from "./structured_clone.ts";
 import {
   Key,
@@ -303,7 +307,7 @@ export class Application<AS extends State = Record<string, any>>
   >;
   #contextState: "clone" | "prototype" | "alias" | "empty";
   #keys?: KeyStack;
-  #middleware: Middleware<State, Context<State, AS>>[] = [];
+  #middleware: MiddlewareOrMiddlewareObject<State, Context<State, AS>>[] = [];
   #serverConstructor: ServerConstructor<ServerRequest>;
 
   /** A set of keys, or an instance of `KeyStack` which will be used to sign
@@ -571,6 +575,11 @@ export class Application<AS extends State = Record<string, any>>
     if (!this.#middleware.length) {
       throw new TypeError("There is no middleware to process requests.");
     }
+    for (const middleware of this.#middleware) {
+      if (isMiddlewareObject(middleware) && middleware.init) {
+        await middleware.init();
+      }
+    }
     if (typeof options === "string") {
       const match = ADDR_REGEXP.exec(options);
       if (!match) {
@@ -651,11 +660,11 @@ export class Application<AS extends State = Record<string, any>>
    * ```
    */
   use<S extends State = AS>(
-    middleware: Middleware<S, Context<S, AS>>,
-    ...middlewares: Middleware<S, Context<S, AS>>[]
+    middleware: MiddlewareOrMiddlewareObject<S, Context<S, AS>>,
+    ...middlewares: MiddlewareOrMiddlewareObject<S, Context<S, AS>>[]
   ): Application<S extends AS ? S : (S & AS)>;
   use<S extends State = AS>(
-    ...middleware: Middleware<S, Context<S, AS>>[]
+    ...middleware: MiddlewareOrMiddlewareObject<S, Context<S, AS>>[]
   ): Application<S extends AS ? S : (S & AS)> {
     this.#middleware.push(...middleware);
     this.#composedMiddleware = undefined;
diff --git a/examples/countingServer.ts b/examples/countingServer.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0d02afab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/countingServer.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+/* This is an example of how to use an object as a middleware.
+ * `MiddlewareObject` can be ideal for when a middleware needs to encapsulate
+ * large amounts of logic or its own state. */
+
+import {
+  bold,
+  cyan,
+  green,
+  yellow,
+} from "https://deno.land/std@0.183.0/fmt/colors.ts";
+
+import {
+  Application,
+  composeMiddleware,
+  type Context,
+  type MiddlewareObject,
+  type Next,
+} from "../mod.ts";
+
+const app = new Application();
+
+class CountingMiddleware implements MiddlewareObject {
+  #id = 0;
+  #counter = 0;
+
+  init() {
+    const array = new Uint32Array(1);
+    crypto.getRandomValues(array);
+    this.#id = array[0];
+  }
+
+  handleRequest(ctx: Context, next: Next) {
+    ctx.response.headers.set("X-Response-Count", String(this.#counter++));
+    ctx.response.headers.set("X-Response-Counter-ID", String(this.#id));
+    return next();
+  }
+}
+
+class LoggerMiddleware implements MiddlewareObject {
+  #composedMiddleware: (context: Context, next: Next) => Promise<unknown>;
+
+  constructor() {
+    this.#composedMiddleware = composeMiddleware([
+      this.#handleLogger,
+      this.#handleResponseTime,
+    ]);
+  }
+
+  async #handleLogger(ctx: Context, next: Next) {
+    await next();
+    const rt = ctx.response.headers.get("X-Response-Time");
+    console.log(
+      `${green(ctx.request.method)} ${cyan(ctx.request.url.pathname)} - ${
+        bold(
+          String(rt),
+        )
+      }`,
+    );
+  }
+
+  async #handleResponseTime(ctx: Context, next: Next) {
+    const start = Date.now();
+    await next();
+    const ms = Date.now() - start;
+    ctx.response.headers.set("X-Response-Time", `${ms}ms`);
+  }
+
+  handleRequest(ctx: Context, next: Next) {
+    return this.#composedMiddleware(ctx, next);
+  }
+}
+
+app.use(new CountingMiddleware());
+app.use(new LoggerMiddleware());
+
+app.use((ctx) => {
+  ctx.response.body = "Hello World!";
+});
+
+app.addEventListener("listen", ({ hostname, port, serverType }) => {
+  console.log(
+    bold("Start listening on ") + yellow(`${hostname}:${port}`),
+  );
+  console.log(bold("  using HTTP server: " + yellow(serverType)));
+});
+
+await app.listen({ hostname: "127.0.0.1", port: 8000 });
+console.log(bold("Finished."));
diff --git a/middleware.ts b/middleware.ts
index ba4bf0b7..53f08aee 100644
--- a/middleware.ts
+++ b/middleware.ts
@@ -5,12 +5,45 @@
 import type { State } from "./application.ts";
 import type { Context } from "./context.ts";
 
-/** Middleware are functions which are chained together to deal with requests. */
+/** A function for chaining middleware. */
+export type Next = () => Promise<unknown>;
+
+/** Middleware are functions which are chained together to deal with
+ * requests. */
 export interface Middleware<
   S extends State = Record<string, any>,
   T extends Context = Context<S>,
 > {
-  (context: T, next: () => Promise<unknown>): Promise<unknown> | unknown;
+  (context: T, next: Next): Promise<unknown> | unknown;
+}
+
+/** Middleware objects allow encapsulation of middleware along with the ability
+ * to initialize the middleware upon listen. */
+export interface MiddlewareObject<
+  S extends State = Record<string, any>,
+  T extends Context<S> = Context<S>,
+> {
+  /** Optional function for delayed initialization which will be called when
+   * the application starts listening. */
+  init?: () => Promise<unknown> | unknown;
+  /** The method to be called to handle the request. */
+  handleRequest(context: T, next: Next): Promise<unknown> | unknown;
+}
+
+/** Type that represents {@linkcode Middleware} or
+ * {@linkcode MiddlewareObject}. */
+export type MiddlewareOrMiddlewareObject<
+  S extends State = Record<string, any>,
+  T extends Context = Context<S>,
+> = Middleware<S, T> | MiddlewareObject<S, T>;
+
+/** A type guard that returns true if the value is
+ * {@linkcode MiddlewareObject}. */
+export function isMiddlewareObject<
+  S extends State = Record<string, any>,
+  T extends Context = Context<S>,
+>(value: MiddlewareOrMiddlewareObject<S, T>): value is MiddlewareObject<S, T> {
+  return value && typeof value === "object" && "handleRequest" in value;
 }
 
 /** Compose multiple middleware functions into a single middleware function. */
@@ -18,11 +51,11 @@ export function compose<
   S extends State = Record<string, any>,
   T extends Context = Context<S>,
 >(
-  middleware: Middleware<S, T>[],
-): (context: T, next?: () => Promise<unknown>) => Promise<unknown> {
+  middleware: MiddlewareOrMiddlewareObject<S, T>[],
+): (context: T, next?: Next) => Promise<unknown> {
   return function composedMiddleware(
     context: T,
-    next?: () => Promise<unknown>,
+    next?: Next,
   ): Promise<unknown> {
     let index = -1;
 
@@ -31,7 +64,13 @@ export function compose<
         throw new Error("next() called multiple times.");
       }
       index = i;
-      let fn: Middleware<S, T> | undefined = middleware[i];
+      let m: MiddlewareOrMiddlewareObject<S, T> | undefined = middleware[i];
+      let fn: Middleware<S, T> | undefined;
+      if (typeof m === "function") {
+        fn = m;
+      } else if (m && typeof m.handleRequest === "function") {
+        fn = (m as MiddlewareObject).handleRequest.bind(m);
+      }
       if (i === middleware.length) {
         fn = next;
       }
diff --git a/middleware_test.ts b/middleware_test.ts
index dc6f8b32..3d5f26ab 100644
--- a/middleware_test.ts
+++ b/middleware_test.ts
@@ -5,11 +5,16 @@
 import { assert, assertEquals, assertStrictEquals } from "./test_deps.ts";
 import { errors } from "./deps.ts";
 import { createMockContext } from "./testing.ts";
-import { compose, Middleware } from "./middleware.ts";
+import {
+  compose,
+  isMiddlewareObject,
+  type Middleware,
+  type MiddlewareObject,
+  type Next,
+} from "./middleware.ts";
+import { Context } from "./context.ts";
 
-const { test } = Deno;
-
-test({
+Deno.test({
   name: "test compose()",
   async fn() {
     const callStack: number[] = [];
@@ -31,7 +36,50 @@ test({
   },
 });
 
-test({
+Deno.test({
+  name: "isMiddlewareObject()",
+  async fn() {
+    class MockMiddlewareObject implements MiddlewareObject {
+      handleRequest(
+        _context: Context<Record<string, any>, Record<string, any>>,
+        _next: Next,
+      ): unknown {
+        return;
+      }
+    }
+
+    assert(isMiddlewareObject(new MockMiddlewareObject()));
+    assert(isMiddlewareObject({ handleRequest() {} }));
+    assert(!isMiddlewareObject(function () {}));
+  },
+});
+
+Deno.test({
+  name: "middleware objects are composed correctly",
+  async fn() {
+    const callStack: number[] = [];
+    const mockContext = createMockContext();
+
+    class MockMiddlewareObject implements MiddlewareObject {
+      #counter = 0;
+
+      async handleRequest(_context: any, next: Next) {
+        assertEquals(typeof next, "function");
+        callStack.push(this.#counter++);
+        await next();
+      }
+    }
+
+    const mwo = new MockMiddlewareObject();
+    const fn = compose([mwo]);
+
+    await fn(mockContext);
+    await fn(mockContext);
+    assertEquals(callStack, [0, 1]);
+  },
+});
+
+Deno.test({
   name: "next() is catchable",
   async fn() {
     let caught: any;
@@ -51,7 +99,7 @@ test({
   },
 });
 
-test({
+Deno.test({
   name: "composed middleware accepts next middleware",
   async fn() {
     const callStack: number[] = [];
diff --git a/mod.ts b/mod.ts
index a03d3883..aa9de0a6 100644
--- a/mod.ts
+++ b/mod.ts
@@ -68,7 +68,12 @@ export { type NativeRequest } from "./http_server_native_request.ts";
 export { proxy } from "./middleware/proxy.ts";
 export type { ProxyOptions } from "./middleware/proxy.ts";
 export { compose as composeMiddleware } from "./middleware.ts";
-export type { Middleware } from "./middleware.ts";
+export type {
+  Middleware,
+  MiddlewareObject,
+  MiddlewareOrMiddlewareObject,
+  Next,
+} from "./middleware.ts";
 export { FormDataReader } from "./multipart.ts";
 export type {
   FormDataBody,