Until now, investing in the stock market, purchasing bonds or even owning real estate as a traditional form of investing was a journey typically taken between the hours of nine and five. The boom of Web3 and selling NFTs on the other hand, has opened up a 24/7, 365-day market. Given this crazy market, NYC-based Gauntlet aims to make it easier for people to gauge investment risks and recently raised fresh funds to do just that.
This week, the risk management startup announced it raised a $23.8 million Series B round led by Ribbit Capital. Its most recent raise makes the company a tech unicorn with a $1 billion valuation.
Gauntlet’s platform uses an algorithm that assesses risk opportunities in the crypto market. Decentralized finance institutions that allow users to lend and purchase crypto can utilize this platform to predict how investments will perform.
“Marketplace optimization is one of the most difficult engineering challenges in DeFi,” Gauntlet co-founder and CTO Rei Chiang said in a statement. “Our platform is comprised of various predictive models which we use to calibrate and improve risk management and incentives for a wide range of DeFi protocols.”
According to a company statement, its billion-dollar valuation is backed by an extremely successful year. In 2021, Gauntlet saw 20x growth after raising its $13.6 million Series A in June.
Gauntlet’s fresh funding will go to hiring developers, engineers and simulation data scientists. Additional plans for funding will go toward improving the platform’s capability to continue to aid DeFi institutions.
“As the decentralized finance ecosystem develops and grows in complexity, the importance of strong risk management infrastructure becomes even more apparent,” Nick Shalek, general partner at Ribbit Capital, said in a statement. “Gauntlet’s expertise in risk management and capital optimization will ensure that the company continues to play a key role in facilitating broader adoption of DeFi — ultimately driving institutional capital inflows towards protocols that adopt Gauntlet’s risk frameworks and products.”
