Index Ventures, Union Square Ventures back trading app Fomo at $550 million valuation

In the doldrums of a crypto down market, it is uncommon to see established enterprise corporations that do not solely concentrate on digital property lead a fundraise for a crypto startup. Still, Index, which has made its identify for bets on non-crypto firms like Figma and Scale AI, is not a stranger to the world of blockchain. The Geneva-born agency has backed the stablecoin startup Bridge, which Stripe acquired for $1.1 billion in 2025. Similarly, Union Square Ventures has invested within the blockchain Polygon and crypto developer Matter Labs.

“We’re not doing Fomo because it’s a crypto business,” Julia Andre, a associate at Index Ventures, advised me. “We’re doing Fomo because we think there is a market shift there, and they have what it takes to capture this next wave of consumer blockchain trading.”

Not a crypto app

The worry of lacking out usually pushes merchants to pile into buzzy memecoins or the latest, hottest token. And it is a Fomo phenomenon cofounders Paul Erlanger, Se Yong Park, and Prashan Dharmasena noticed firsthand whereas working at the crypto trading platform dYdX.

The trio additionally witnessed how troublesome trading digital property will be. There are 1000’s of cryptocurrencies, numerous blockchains, arcane charges to pay for swapping tokens, and sophisticated onboarding processes. “Onchain trading is just impossible,” Erlanger advised me.

So, in 2025, they got down to create a web-based and cell app that simplified the expertise. “Someone should be able to onboard into Fomo, fund their account, and buy a token within like 30 seconds, regardless of whether they’re familiar with crypto or not,” Dharmasena stated.

Their startup’s identify is brief for “fearless,” not worry, of lacking out, Erlanger stated. “The goal on Fomo is that you never miss out again,” he added. To that finish, Fomo has a leaderboard that exhibits the highest merchants, a feed that exhibits customers’ newest trades, and the flexibility to share your trading historical past on social media.

That push for simplicity and the tie-in to socially-motivated trading resonated with the startup’s backers. A set of 140 angel traders—together with Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron, one time Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan, and Solana cofounder Raj Gokal—contributed to their seed spherical. And the crypto-shy Benchmark led the startup’s $17 million Series A.

But Fomo is not meant to be a platform for less than cryptocurrencies, stated Erlanger. He believes the app could be a broader gateway to finance as firms put shares, derivatives, and a complete host of property on the blockchain. In June, Fomo listed perpetuals, a kind of futures contract with no expiration date. “The goal is for it not to be seen as a crypto app,” Erlanger stated.

That’s the identical technique that monetary giants like Coinbase and Robinhood are pursuing. But Fomo’s cofounders consider they are often aggressive, even with the trading giants. Their app is non-custodial, which means they do not deal with prospects’ cash, which arguably exempts the platform from money-handling legal guidelines. (“We do everything we can to remain compliant,” stated Fomo cofounder Park.)

Fomo lists extra property than Coinbase, is accessible globally, and is onboarding round 3,500 new customers per day, Park stated. While the startup solely has 17 staff, it plans to make use of its new injection of capital to rent extra engineers—and possibly even purchase smaller firms. “The goal is,” Erlanger proclaimed, “to be the largest trading app in the world.”

See you tomorrow,

Ben Weiss
X: @bdanweiss
E-mail: benjamin.weiss@fortune.com
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VENTURE DEALS

– Gradienta Seattle, Wash.-based startup constructing AI brokers to automate enterprise advertising and marketing operations, raised $65 million in Series C funding. Insight Partners led the spherical and was joined by VMG, Madronaand Pruven.

– Versea San Francisco-based power infrastructure platform, raised $54 million in Series B funding. Bessemer enterprise Partners led the spherical and was joined by G.V., NVIDIA, Norrsken V.C.and others.

– Trace Financea New York City-based cross-border funds and stablecoin settlement platform, raised $32 million in Series A funding from CoinFund, Coinbase Venturesand others.

– Prosper AIa New York City-based AI platform designed to mix affected person scheduling, insurance coverage verification, and affected person billing, raised $30 million in Series A funding. a16z led the spherical and was joined by Base10 and current traders Emergence Capital, AND Combinatorand Company Ventures.

– BoolYesa Boston, Mass.-based platform for push-button {hardware} acceleration, raised $6 million in seed funding. Fine Structure Ventures led the spherical and was joined by Pillar VC, Fifth Quarter Venturesand Coalition Ventures.

– Clarioa Menlo Park, Calif.-based platform constructed to get rid of enterprise information ROT (redundant, out of date, and trivial information), raised $6 million in seed funding. Preface Ventures led the spherical and was joined by Golden Sparrow, High sage, second Ventures, ridge Ventures, rework V.C.and others.

– channel Roboticsa San Diego, Calif.-based handheld endoscopic robotic platform, raised $4.6 million in funding, together with a $2.5 million Seed+ spherical led by True Ventures and a $2.1 million seed funding from outlined V.C., Old line Capital Partnersand others.

– Kinomatican Arroyo Grande, Calif.-based AI and VR-driven orthopedic surgical procedure planning and concierge restoration firm, raised $4 million in seed funding. Waterline Ventures led the spherical.

– Thina New York City-based AI-native mortgage dealer, raised $2.9 million in seed funding from Y Combinator, Manresa Ventures, Pack Venturesand angel traders.

– Devplanto Seattle, Wash.-based intelligence layer for AI-native product improvement, raised $2.5 million in seed funding. A12 Incubator led the spherical and was joined by Irrigation ditch Capital, Mighty Capital, Great Venturesand eLab Ventures.

– June Healtha Toronto, Canada-based ladies’s well being care platform, raised CAD$2.4 million ($1.7 million) in pre-seed funding from Securian Canada and others.

EXITS

– Lennox acquired Heat Controllera Jackson, Mich.-based HVAC tools distributor, from Platinum Equity. Financial phrases weren’t disclosed.

PEOPLE

– 645 Venturesa New York City-based enterprise capital agency, employed Parul Singh as Investment Partner within the San Francisco workplace. Previously, she was with Initialized Capital.

– Inspired Capitala New York City-based enterprise capital agency, promoted Annie Shapiro to Partner.