Big Boom for NFT Sector as Startup Raises $80bn in Funding

Los Angeles (CoinChapter) – Blockchain developer platform Alchemy, responsible for powering some of the biggest non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces, announced it has raised an additional $80 billion in a Series B funding round.

The latest cash injection gives the company a valuation of more than $500 million. Alchemy previously raised a total of $15.5 million, so the platform overall has collected $95.5 million since it launched in 2017.

This week’s funding round was led by Coatue and Addition, but also included several other notable institutions and individuals. Among the participants were actor Jared Leto, the Glazer family, who own the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Coinbase.

Most of Alchemy’s growth has taken place over the last eight months, which coincides with the start of the NFT (Non-Fungible token) boom. During that span, the company has seen 97 times growth on its platform. The number of companies it powers additionally doubled in the first quarter, resulting in more than $30 billion in transactions.

Alchemy helping facilitate transactions for some of the biggest NFT marketplaces

Alchemy most notably serves as a middleman for some of the biggest NFT marketplaces, including Dapper Labs, which made CryptoKitties, NBA Top Shot and OpenSea. It also facilitates transactions for Makersplace, SuperRare and CryptoPunks.

“When cryptocurrencies took off, we saw it and said: ‘This is the next big technology shift,’” Alchemy CEO Viswanathan said in a recent interview. “The huge problem was that developers didn’t have any kind of infrastructure or tools. We wanted to make it really easy for them to unlock that potential.”

Alchemy’s end goal is to be the starting place for developers looking to build a product on top of a blockchain. It prioritizes removing the complexity and costs of building infrastructure while improving applications through “necessary” developer tools.

“Developer platforms are critical for driving adoption of new technologies,” said Alphabet chairman John Hennessy, who was one of the early investors in the start-up. “Alchemy is uniquely positioned to greatly accelerate the growth of the blockchain industry the same way Amazon Web Services did for the internet.”

NBA Top Shot thriving, but struggling to fulfill withdrawal requests

While NBA Top Shot has continued to attract millions of new customers every month, the platform is struggling to fulfill an increasing number of withdrawal requests.

The process currently takes 6-8 weeks after users pass an identity check. NBA Top Shot uses the time to monitor accounts for potential fraudulent activity.

Dapper Labs hopes the delays become minimal as their customer support team grows. As of April 23, more than 50% of customers have access to withdrawals.

To this point, however, the only eligible users are those who live in the United States. The company hopes to expand the withdrawal process to Canada and the United Kingdom later this summer.