DeFi lending platform Compound raised $25 million in Collection A funding on November 15, 2019, led by Andreessen Horowitz – one of many largest ever DeFi startup raises on the time.
Andreessen Horowitz, also called a16z, highlighted that that they had been working with the Compound group for 2 years and had a robust perception of their aptitude within the area.
In accordance with Compound co-founder Robert Leshner, Polychain Capital, Paradigm Capital and Bain Capital Ventures additionally participated within the spherical, valuing the protocol at round $90 million.
On the time of the funding, Compound had just a little over $100 million in complete worth locked (TVL) in its protocol.
Funding Decentralization and Accessibility
Leshner claimed that the funding spherical would help with the protocol’s plans to decentralize, along with placing the platform inside the attain of the typical individual – not simply tech-savvy customers.
With the intention to obtain this, he promised the protocol could be built-in into quite a lot of exchanges, custodians and wallets by the top of 2020.
The place is Compound Finance Now?
For the reason that funding spherical, Compound has efficiently surpassed expectations on all fronts.
The protocol turned one of many very first tasks to decentralize management throughout the arms of the neighborhood, by way of the launch and distribution of its COMP governance token.
Compound additionally secured partnerships with in style exchanges and wallets together with Binance, Crypto.com, and Exodus. On the institutional finish, it has been built-in into institutional platforms comparable to Coinbase Custody, Anchorage and BitGo.
Customers of those platforms can now straight entry the Compound protocol via these companions, slightly than having to withdraw their funds and use a separate pockets.
The protocol peaked with a powerful $12.3 billion in TVL in November 2021 and is presently sitting at $2.12 billion TVL, on the time of writing.
It spans 6 totally different blockchain networks: Arbitrum, Base, Ethereum, Optimism, Polygon, and Scroll.
About Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)
Andreessen Horowitz, also called a16z, is a distinguished non-public enterprise capital agency based in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz.
Headquartered in Menlo Park, California, a16z manages property totaling $42 billion as of Could 2024, making it one of many main companies in its area.
It helps each early-stage startups and established corporations, offering not solely monetary backing but additionally strategic steering and assets.
Notable investments embody corporations like Fb, Twitter, Airbnb, and Coinbase.
Alex Miguel
Alex is a author and DeFi fanatic who has been within the area since 2016. He has written whitepapers, press releases, and social media content material for a number of tasks within the area.
