Crypto Data Firm Messari Raises $21 Million From Coinbase, Kraken and Others

Messari, which gathers and explains data about cryptocurrency markets, has raised $21 million in Series A funding, according to a press release today from the company.

The raise was led by early-stage investors Point72 Ventures. It also drew funds from exchange’s venture arms, including Coinbase Ventures, Kraken Ventures, and Blockchain Ventures.

Founded in 2018 by former Digital Currency Group and CoinDesk executive Ryan Selkis, Messari has become a prominent source for pricing data as well as market research. 

The startup’s fundraising haul—$21 million is on the high end for a company looking to scale up (though on par for cryptocurrency-related firms)—is evidence of the need for interpretation of market data as the number of coins and tokens continues to expand.

The company plans to use the capital to create more educational content, build a community of researchers, and create products for institutions. All of which should help it compete with a slew of other data analytics firms, such as Coin Metrics and Glassnode.

Said Selkis in the release: “This new funding reinforces the value we have created for our early crypto-native customers and highlights the opportunity we have to solve some of crypto’s most challenging information and compliance problems for new institutional entrants as well.”

Messari previously raised $5 million in seed and venture funding rounds in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

5 August 2021 14:01