The blockchain startup’s tech solutions keep the biggest platforms in the crypto collectibles space up and running.
They may have flown under your radar, but blockchain developer Alchemy keeps making bigger and bigger moves in the crypto space. Last week, they announced $80 million in Series B fundraising, bringing them to a $505 million company valuation.
Purveyors of the self-proclaimed “backend technology for the blockchain industry,” Alchemy says it has already powered $30 billion in transactions since it began working with public customers just eight months ago
Whether or not you knew their name before, if you’ve even lightly dabbled in the world of NFTs, their tech helped you to do so. From CryptoPunks to Cryptokitties, from MakersPlace to OpenSea, from Nifty Gateway to SuperRare, the most popular platforms and marketplaces in the industry rely on Alchemy solutions. Dapper Labs, the company that created the Flow blockchain and NBA Top Shot, continues to rely on Alchemy even as their own valuation has soared to incredible heights.
Company co-founder Nikil Viswanathan put it simply to Bloomberg: “If we were to turn off, all these products wouldn’t work.”
Alchemy is no stranger to big-name investors. They’re backed by the likes of Coinbase, Samsung, Charles Schwab, the Glazer family that owns Manchester United and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, music duo the Chainsmokers, Oscar-winning actor Jared Leto, Google chairman and Stanford University President John L. Hennessy, and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, among many others.
Since its creation in 2017 — it served only private customers until August 2020, as Bloomberg notes — the company raised a total of $95.5 million.
Alchemy solves problems and prevents headaches for its partners by helping them connect seamlessly and efficiently to the Ethereum blockchain, which has contributed to an exploding market for non-fungible tokens that has grown by nearly 2,000% since the start of the year, per Forbes. Tech Crunch reports that Alchemy has grown by approximately 800% since signing its Series B term sheet, and saw more than $300 million in investor demand as their far-reaching influence in the digital collectibles space increasingly faded into focus.
As cryptocurrency transactions become increasingly mainstream and the scope and utility of NFTs continue to expand to new spaces, Alchemy not only grows along with them — it makes that growth possible. The importance of what the company does cannot be understated, and it’s even earned them a trendy nickname: the AWS (Amazon Web Services) of blockchain.
“Every time you open DoorDash, you’re using Amazon’s infrastructure,” Alchemy co-founder Joe Lau said, echoing the popular refrain. “Every time you interact with an NFT, you’re using Alchemy. It’s being powered by Alchemy underneath the hood.”
The numbers speak for themselves. And if the AWS comparison ends up being the prevailing one in the big picture, this up-and-comer’s name will one day ring out as loudly as any in the world of emerging technology.
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