Two DJs, the president of Morgan Stanley, an ecommerce kingpin and a smattering of other high-profile angel investors have joined behind-the-scenes blockchain startup Alchemy Insights’ $80 million Series B.
A source familiar with the matter told CoinDesk that Alchemy had earmarked some of its Series B equity for soon-to-be investors when it unveiled that round in April. The Bay Area company, which builds infrastructure and developer tools for consumer-facing crypto firms, commanded a $505 million valuation at the time.
“My heart bleeds a little bit for developers and I have great sympathy for dev tools that better enable them,” said Chainalysis CEO Michael Gronager, one of the angels.
Alchemy’s new investors include DJs 3LAU and Zedd, Morgan Stanley President and COO Vikram Pandit, Checkout.com CEO Guillaume Pousaz, Neythri Futures Fund, former Disney Chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg and others.
The four-year-old startup has grown tenfold in three months, the source said, as NFT-focused chains such as Dapper Labs’ Flow and other hot protocols like Polygon signed on. Alchemy helps those companies handle their booming transaction volumes more efficiently.
That’s been of special concern for NFT marketplaces servicing the breakout crypto asset subsector of 2021. Activity bellwether OpenSea has processed over $120 million in NFT trading volume so far this month, according to Dune Analytics, an industry tracker. It’s also an Alchemy customer.
“Their platform powers many of the best companies in the space, including all the leading NFT companies,” said 3LAU, a DJ and proponent of all things crypto.
With $30 billion in processed transactions, Alchemy said it plans to court further growth through offices in New York City and a string of new partnerships and products.