Crypto VC Firm Paradigm Leads $14M Raise for DeFi Platform Exponential

Exponential, a decentralized finance (DeFi) investment discovery and risk assessment platform, has raised $14 million in a seed funding round led by crypto-focused investment giant Paradigm.

Hackers have exploited code vulnerabilities in a growing number of DeFi projects this year. Exploits of cross-chain bridges – how assets are moved from one blockchain to another – led to the loss of at least $2 billion in lost cryptocurrency during the first half of the year, according to a recent Chainalysis report.

“Investing in DeFi is a labyrinthian hellscape that even the most devoted crypto evangelist can get lost in,” wrote Exponential co-founders Driss Benamour, Mehdi Lebbar and Greg Jizmagian in the announcement post. “Finding legitimate projects, executing trades, moving funds across chains, tracking performance, and filing taxes is more than enough to scare off most investors.”

The Exponential platform has an institutional-grade risk assessment system that analyzes a user’s current investments for potential risks in the underlying protocols, assets and blockchains. Users can also find and compare yield opportunities across the major chains and protocols. Exponential will soon launch the ability for customers to invest directly in DeFi projects through its custodial platform.

Other participants in the funding round included Haun Ventures (the VC firm of Andresseen Horowitz alum Katie Haun), the venture capital arm of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, the Solana and Polygon blockchains and the investment arm of USDC stablecoin issuer Circle, among others.

Read more: What Is DeFi?

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