Ohanian, SoftBank fund Miami blockchain startup QuickNode

If your business needs a way to hook its services into the blockchain, there’s a Miami-based startup for that.

And it’s now got the backing of Reddit co-founder and chairman Alexis Ohanian, to the tune of $5.3 million.

QuickNode, which has built out blockchain software for firms crypto-based and beyond, announced Thursday it had raised the multimillion investment round from Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six venture group, with participation from SoftBank’s Opportunity Fund, Arrington XRP Capital, Crossbeam.vc, and Anthony Pompliano, among others. SoftBank announced its QuickNode investment in January as part of its $100 million Miami initiative.

“We’re in the midst of a ‘Crypto Spring’ and QuickNode is the best-in-class infrastructure layer to enable all the crypto projects that are launching and scaling,” said Ohanian, who resides part time in South Florida, in a statement.

“QuickNode is providing instrumental building blocks for blockchain infrastructure which previously required near overwhelming levels of effort, maintenance, and experience,” added SoftBank Opportunity Fund Managing Partner Shu Nyatta in a statement.

A blockchain is a shared transaction network that allows digital tokens like cryptocurrencies and NFTs to be exchanged. While blockchain’s use beyond the crypto world is still being developed, many observers say that the next evolution of the worldwide web will tap blockchain because it is often more efficient than existing software, and also does not require a centralized touchpoint — which makes the web more vulnerable to hackers.

Four Miami-area founders created QuickNode in 2017 as they recognized the opportunity for secure and efficient transactions, and went about creating a scaleable platform to make blockchains more accessible to businesses.

“We see QuickNode as a critical piece of infrastructure for the next generation of companies building software,” said QuickNode co-founder Dmitry Shklovsky, who calls Miami Beach home. “It’s what drives us every day to build tools and services for the future of finance, media, governance, identity, gaming, real estate, and so many more applications. Building the next iteration of the Internet (the Web3.0) is something we are all excited about.”

QuickNode’s new funding will be put toward growing head count and developing its product offering.