Node infrastructure provider Alchemy raises $15 million from Pantera and others

Node infrastructure provider Alchemy has raised $15 million in a seed round turned Series A led by Pantera Capital. Additional investors included Coinbase, Stanford University, Samsung, and LinkedIn founder (and Bitcoin bull) Reid Hoffman, among others. Akin to ConsenSys-backed Infura, Alchemy’s business model is to host and maintain the node infrastructure required to deploy decentralized applications to public networks like Ethereum. The service allows application developers to avoid the complexities and costs of running a node in-house and to focus on their core business. With the new money in hand, Alchemy officially launched its platform and is now looking to accelerate its expansion into international markets.

Why it matters:

• Running a node on a smart contract platform is non-trivial, and rising storage requirements are only compounding the associated costs and complexities. As a result, application developers find it easier and perhaps more cost-efficient to outsource infrastructure needs to third-party providers like Alchemy and Infura, in spite of the centralization risks. This preference for simplicity over sovereignty creates a burgeoning opportunity for node infrastructure services.
• Yet opportunity draws attention, and the competition is beginning to heat up within the now not-so-insignificant node infrastructure-as-a-service industry. As a first-mover with backing from ConsenSys, Infura may still dominate this sector. But newer entrants like Alchemy are starting to eat away at its market share, particularly in terms of large-scale or enterprise-level customers. Others include Bison Trails, which announced a $25 million Series A last month, and Blockdaemon, which raised a $2.4 million seed round back in Apr. Despite the increase in competition, this race is still Infura’s to lose.

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