Crypto Data Firm Kaiko Raises $53M, Defying Bear Market

Kaiko, a crypto market data provider, announced a $53 million Series B funding round today. 

The funding round was led by early Alibaba-backer Eight Roads with participation from Revaia, Alven, Point9, Anthemis, and Underscore.

With this latest raise, the firm’s valuation has tripled since its $23 million Series A raise in June 2021. 

“With the growing institutional participation in digital assets, access to reliable, transparent, and regulatory-compliant market information has never been of greater importance,” read the announcement from Kaiko.

Decrypt has contacted Kaiko about the latest raise.

Kaiko’s CEO Ambre Soubiran described the past two months as a “marathon,” explaining the difficulties of raising funds during crypto’s ongoing bear market.

“What was challenging, in all honesty, was the due diligence and closing process because we were really, really under scrutiny,” Soubiran in an interview with Bloomberg. “The hardest part was getting the whole thing across the finish line in the middle of a minus 80% downturn.”

Soubiran added that the recent crypto meltdown has actually been advantageous as clients seek answers for the long unwind. 

Kaiko’s progress and next steps

Over the past 12 months, Kaiko has been keen on expanding its core products with major acquisitions including Kesitys, a tool to optimize risk hedging, and CoinShares’s Napolean Index. The acquisition of the Napolean Index paved the way for the launch of Kaiko Indices. 

The company also has invested in data security by acquiring SOC-2 Type 1 accreditation in February 2022. 

The certification is an assessment of a company’s security process developed by the American Institute of CPAs.

Kaiko's clientele is composed of diverse financial and crypto firms including,  Bloomberg, Deutsche Börse, ICE Global Network, CoinShares, Chainlink, Paxos, and Messari.

Currently, Kaiko has offices in Paris, London, New York, and Singapore to meet the specific data requirements of local markets.

“Over the next year, we will solidify our position as an industry leader of institutional data solutions, serving as a critical bridge between centralized and decentralized financial marketplaces,” Soubiran said.