Blockchain analytics firm Nansen secures $12M in Andreessen Horowitz-led raise

Several venture capital firms including Andreessen Horowitz have thrown their weight behind Nansen, an up-and-coming blockchain analytics platform for the DeFi sector. 

The $12 million Series A funding round included participation from Skyfall Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, imToken Ventures, QCP Capital and Mechanism Capital, Nansen announced Tuesday. Nansen said the funding will be used to hire additional talent, grow its analytics platform and provide additional services to networks like Polygon and Binance Smart Chain, among others.

As a blockchain analytics platform, Nansen analyzes the activity of over 90 million Ethereum wallets. The platform integrates massive data sets and translates them into dashboards that allow users to gauge actionable insights in the DeFi market.

Chris Dixon, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, explained the value proposition that Nansen brings to the market:

“As participation in the first truly open global financial markets grows, traders and collectors of all kinds — retail novices, institutional professionals, independent experts, and more — will want to understand what the smart money is doing across all blockchains.”

Andreessen Horowitz has long identified blockchain and cryptocurrency as major growth drivers for the future and has allocated capital accordingly. The venture firm recently announced a $2.2 billion fund dedicated to crypto startups. That’s in addition to the billions in strategic investments made so far.

Related: Chainalysis raises $100M in Series E funding led by Coatue

Venture funds have poured billions into the blockchain industry this year alone, funding everything from exchanges to liquidity aggregators and up to infrastructure developers. Existing blockchain companies are also growing in scale, with the likes of BlockFi reportedly seeking a $5 billion valuation following several successful investment rounds.