In brief
- ParaSwap, a French DeFi project, has received funding from over 30 investors.
- Some of the investors represent big names in crypto, including CoinGecko.
- ParaSwap aims to use the funding to scale its infrastructure.
ParaSwap, the France-based company that aggregates prices on multiple decentralized exchanges, has finished a round of seed funding, which raised $2.7 million.
Decentralized finance (DeFi), continues to expand its presence within the crypto industry. According to DeFi Pulse, DeFi’s total value has almost reached $10 billion. As part of this growth, ParaSwap aims to help developers of decentralized applications provide token swaps for their users. In turn, the company’s recent fundraising aims to scale infrastructure to help the DeFi space reach new heights.
“DeFi is just starting out. It reminds me of Crypto in mid/early 2013. I think we'll see a huge growth within the next 12 months,” Mounir Benchemled, founder of ParaSwap, told Decrypt.
The round of seed funding gathered contributions from over 30 investors, including some big names in the crypto industry. Among the list are CoinGecko, a cryptocurrency price comparison website, Blockchain Capital, a venture firm in the blockchain space, and Stani Kulechov, the founder of DeFi protocol Aave.
Benchemled said this round of funding signals where improvements in the DeFi space are needed. “It is an indicator that the DeFi market needs more than simple user interfaces for swaps. It needs projects that help build solid industry standards.”
However, the $2.7 million worth of funds appear to have put ParaSwap on the right track. “We feel very fortunate to have surrounded ourselves with an amazing group of investors and to have a world-class talent core team,” Benchemled added.
ParaSwap attracts investors
There are two reasons why ParaSwap has been able to attract a diverse group of investors.
The primary reason is “our ability to deliver with very minimal resources,” according to Benchemled, adding that “ParaSwap has been a one man army most of the time and since March, we out competed most of the old and well funded projects.”
Benchemled also attributed ParaSwap’s existing clients to the success of the funding round “We were also able to attract some tier 1 dapps and wallets in the ecosystem,” he added.
Looking ahead, decentralized finance still has some creases to iron out, particularly security, as evidenced by repeated hacks in the space. “I think we need more insurance products such as Nexus Mutual and Unslashed,” Benchemled said.
Putting a stop to consumer losses would be a great start.