a16z Invests $250M in Alchemy, Alameda Backs Voyager with $75M

Andressen Horowitz, or a16z, led a $250 million raise for blockchain and Web3 platform developer Alchemy in its latest Series C round, bringing its valuation to $3.5 billion, the company said in a statement Thursday. 

Lightspeed and Redpoint are joining as investors, with participation from previous investors Coatue, Addition, DFJ and Pantera Capital. The funding will be used to help the platform build out additional benefits from blockchain, decentralization and Web3 for its developers. 

“Alchemy is doing for blockchain and Web3 what AWS did for the internet,” the company said in reference to Amazon Web Services, which provides on-demand cloud computing platforms and APIs. It launched publicly about a year ago and has increased its revenue 15 times over the last six months, in addition to powering more than $45 billion in transactions for users internationally, it said.

Alchemy powers companies like PwC and Adobe all the way to businesses developing in Web3 like Dapper Labs, Aave, OpenSea, and Axie Infinity.

“We’re excited to continue investing in making blockchain accessible to developers globally,” Nikil Viswanathan, co-founder and CEO of Alchemy said in a statement. “Empowering developers is the key to bringing the magic of blockchain to the world,” Viswanathan added.

Alameda Research invests $75M in Voyager Digital 

The publicly traded cryptocurrency platform Voyager Digital announced a $75 million investment from Alameda Research on Thursday. 

The strategic investment will create a partnership between the two companies to focus on executive, asset management and broader crypto initiatives, the companies said in a statement. 

Alameda Research trades over $5 billion daily across thousands of products including major cryptocurrencies and altcoins as well as derivatives, it said. Voyager Digital provides a platform for more than 2 million users to trade over 60 crypto assets as well as the ability to earn rewards up to 12% annually on about 30 cryptocurrencies. 

“While the immediate opportunity is on the order flow and asset management front, we are tremendously excited about potential future synergistic opportunities in the continuously evolving crypto industry,” Steve Ehrlich, CEO and co-founder of Voyager said. “These opportunities include NFTs and crypto derivatives through Alameda, as well as the creation of thought leadership as we work with lawmakers on shaping regulation,” Ehrlich added. 

Also this week, Voyager partnered with Dallas Mavericks in a five-year agreement to make cryptocurrency more accessible through educational and community programs and fan engagement promotions, Blockworks previously reported. 

In the beginning of October, Voyager’s preliminary revenue fell about 40% from the previous quarter, according to a report. The crypto company declined to comment further when requested by Blockworks, but referenced the statement in the press release that “Voyager’s transactional volume is contingent on market volume and the overall market volume decreased substantially in July and August.”