Blockchain infrastructure provider Alchemy clinches unicorn status in $250 million fundraise led by a16z

Blockchain infrastructure provider Alchemy is the latest company to join the unicorn crypto club, closing a Series C funding round that values the firm at $3.5 billion.

The company, founded in 2017 by Nikil Viswanathan and Joe Lau, is among the myriad of industry firms to nab a hefty valuation amid an upswell in venture interest. What's more, the round comes as the startup's footprint in the non-fungible token (NFT) economy grows. Alchemy counts an array of NFT-focused companies on its client list, including unicorn-valuation companies like OpenSea, Dapper Labs and Axie Infinity.

The new round adds more than $250 million to Alchemy's coffers. 

Andreessen Horowitz led the new round, with Lightspeed and Redpoint joining the firm's cap table for the first time along with a16z. Existing investors Coatue, Addition Capital, Panter and DFJ also took part in the round.

Alchemy had raised $80 million in a Series B round announced in April. Since the spring, Alchemy has grown its revenues by 15x, according to the team. 

The company offers software tools that range from node management, handling the communication points within a blockchain network, to its so-called Alchemy Monitor, which helps developers view the functionality of apps built on their networks.

Those types of tools have placed Alchemy square in the sector for NFT services. In August, Viswanathan said that "[w]e’re seeing an explosion of new use cases, new types of users, and new products being built with NFT technology.

Activity in the NFT space surged over the summer, with OpenSea clocking in volumes topping $1 billion every month since August, as per data from The Block. 

Viswanathan told The Block that he expects a number of exchanges and brokers from the crypto and fintech worlds to enter the market in the coming years. 

"Crypto is no longer this theoretical research thing," Viswanathan said. "It is something that today can add concrete value for firms by integrating Web3."

Alchemy is far from alone in seeking to capitalize on interest in NFTs, including other unicorn-valuation firms like FTX and Coinbase. In a sign of the times, Coinbase's waitlist for its upcoming NFT platform hit more than 1 million names within 24 hours of launch.

In a recent interview, Robinhood's crypto COO, Christine Brown, told The Block the firm wouldn't rule out exploring a product in that corner of the market.