Hustler Words – Consumer crypto trading app Fomo, co-founded by Paul Erlanger and Se Yong Park, secured a $17 million Series A round led by Benchmark, a VC firm known for its selective crypto investments. This brings Fomo’s total funding to $19 million.
Instead of pursuing a typical seed round, the founders strategically targeted 200 individuals they admired as potential angel investors. Erlanger emphasized the value each person would bring to the business. Leveraging their networks from previous roles at dYdX, they secured introductions and even made cold calls, ultimately convincing 140 dream angels to invest.
Notable investors include Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron, Solana co-founder Raj Gokal, and former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan. While they missed out on investors like Elon Musk, the founders noted a high success rate in converting those they contacted.
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The app’s appeal lies in its ambition to offer access to millions of crypto assets across all blockchains with minimal technical barriers. Fomo also incorporates a social element, allowing users to follow and observe the trades of friends and respected figures.
While not yet comprehensive, Fomo aims to achieve near-complete asset coverage within six months, currently supporting major coins, meme coins, and altcoins. The long-term vision includes expanding to other asset classes like prediction markets and traditional securities.
A key turning point came a month after Fomo’s launch with the integration of Apple Pay, enabling instant trading for new users. This led to a surge in users and revenue, reaching $150,000 per week and $3 million in daily volume.
Fomo charges transaction fees of 0.50% with a minimum on Solana, but waives gas fees, a significant advantage for users holding major coins.
The angel investor strategy proved fruitful when three individuals independently recommended Fomo to Benchmark’s Chetan Puttagunta. Despite Benchmark’s limited crypto portfolio, Puttagunta was impressed by Fomo’s rapid growth and joined the board.
Puttagunta praised the team’s vision for simplifying crypto asset discovery and trading, noting its resonance with users. Benchmark was the sole institutional investor in the round, with remaining funds allocated to existing and new angel investors.
Since closing the round in September, Fomo has expanded its asset offerings and experienced accelerated growth, onboarding over 120,000 users. The app now handles $20-$40 million in daily volume and generates $150,000 in daily revenue, suggesting Benchmark’s unconventional bet may be paying off.
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