QuickNode raises $5.3 million in funding, Alexis Ohanian's 776 Fund leads Web 3 infrastructure deployment

Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six fund led a key funding round in spring 2021, injecting $5.3 million into blockchain development platform QuickNode. The investment choice by the Reddit co-founder once again focuses on the underlying infrastructure building blocks of the Web 3 era. As a long-term crypto asset investor, Ohanian is optimistic about core technology companies that empower developers.

Seven Seven Six’s “Pickaxe and Shovel” Investment Philosophy

Alexis Ohanian compares this investment to mining tools from the gold rush era. Just as the most profitable businesses back then often came from selling tools to prospectors rather than gold itself, the most resilient investment opportunities in the Web 3 era lie at the infrastructure layer.

Seven Seven Six’s funding round was joined by Softbank’s Opportunity Fund, Arrington XRP Capital, Crossbeam, and well-known crypto investor Anthony Pompliano. This investor lineup reflects broad market recognition of QuickNode’s strategic position.

Cloud Platform Empowers Developer Ecosystem

Headquartered in Miami, QuickNode has built a cloud-native Web 3 development platform aimed at lowering the technical barriers to blockchain application development. The platform currently supports six mainstream blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Bitcoin, Polygon, Binance Smart Chain, Optimistic Ethereum, and xDai, with more networks in integration.

Platform founder Dmitry Shklovsky stated that the funds will be used to expand the product feature matrix and hire more engineering talent to build a more stable and efficient service foundation. QuickNode’s customer base ranges from NFT project developers to institutional investors managing billions of dollars in assets, including well-known applications like DappRadar and Rarible, as well as industry benchmarks like Curv, a security company acquired by PayPal.

Ohanian on Web 3 Infrastructure Opportunities

In an interview, Alexis Ohanian emphasized that since becoming an early investor in Coinbase nearly a decade ago, the crypto technology and blockchain ecosystem have undergone tremendous changes. Many excellent development teams are rushing into the blockchain space, eager to build the next-generation internet applications.

“QuickNode fills a crucial market gap,” Ohanian pointed out, “as more teams build products on blockchain, they need reliable infrastructure support. Just as Web 2 can’t do without cloud services like AWS, Web 3 also needs key facilities like QuickNode.”

In Ohanian’s view, the core mission of Seven Seven Six is to support innovative companies committed to building the foundational layer of the new internet. This investment philosophy not only guided this funding decision but also signals the fund’s ongoing focus on infrastructure in the future.