Blockchain Startup Alchemy Raises $200M to Support Web3 Development

San Francisco-based Alchemy has raised another $200 million in investments less than four months since its previous funding round. The latest funding round was led by Lightspeed and Silver Lake resulting in a renewed company valuation of $10.2. billion. Earlier investors such as Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Coatue, and Pantera also participated.

According to the company announcement on Feb. 8, funding from the Series C-1 round will go towards expanding the team and doubling down on investment in the Web3 ecosystem.

The blockchain startup was valued at $3.5 billion after a $250 million Series C round in October. In late April, Alchemy raised $80 million in a Series B round that valued the firm at $505 million. The firm has seen staggering growth with a 3x surge in value since October and almost 20x since last April.

Excited to share our funding news!

💰 $200M raise
📈 $10.2B valuation
🤝 Co-led by @lightspeedvp & @silverlake_news

A new chapter on our quest to bring Web3 to the world 🧵👇https://t.co/qAgJl62ZNM

— Alchemy | We're Hiring! (@AlchemyPlatform) February 8, 2022

Building Web3

Web3 is the latest buzzword in the crypto and technology space, but it is more than just that. Web3 refers to a decentralized internet of blockchain networks and decentralized applications (dApps) that has grown from Web2 which refers to the existing network of centralized social media platforms, search giants (which are also eyeing Web3), and cloud service providers.

It appears that venture capital firms are very interested in this concept which many views as the evolution of the internet. Alchemy co-founder and CEO, Nikil Viswanathan, commented:

“As NFTs, DeFi, DAOs, and the emerging metaverse have taken the world by storm, we’ve only gotten more excited, knowing that we’re all just getting started.”

According to a recent report from CB Insights, blockchain funding surged more than 700% in 2021, hitting a record high of $25.5 billion.

Alchemy co-founder and chief technology officer Joe Lau told CNBC, “Everyone’s looking for a way to get involved in the space, and what they realized was Alchemy is the backbone for all of these things,” before adding “we still think this is the first inning of Web 3.”

Exodus From Big Tech

Alchemy is a behind-the-scenes player that supports the development of Web3 platforms and protocols. It has already been instrumental in a number of leading industry projects including leading NFT (nonfungible token) marketplace OpenSea, NFT developers Dapper Labs, decentralized exchange 0x, and Metaverse gaming platform Axie Infinity.

Sources familiar with the firm told TechCrunch, “basically, the most important companies blowing up in crypto are powered by Alchemy, so by investing in Alchemy you get a broad index of the whole space,”

Viswanathan also commented on an ‘exodus from big tech’ as developers flood into the Web3, the next iteration of the internet as we know it. Earlier this month, Trust Machines raised $150 million to bring Web3 to the Bitcoin (BTC) network.