[Funding alert] Blockchain analytics firm Merkle Science raises $5.75M in Series A from Darrow Holdings, Kraken Ventures, others

Blockchain monitoring and investigative platform Merkle Science announced the close of its $5.75 million Series A funding round led by Darrow Holdings. Other investors in the round include Kraken Ventures, Bain-backed Uncorrelated Ventures, Fenbushi Capital, Token Bay Capital, Kenetic, and Lunex Ventures.

Built by Bengalaru-based founders Nirmal Aryath Koroth and Mriganka Pattnaik, the Singapore-based firm's funding announcement came shortly after its recent launch into the US market.

Merkle Science Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Mriganka Pattnaik, said,

“It gives us great confidence that they [our investors] are in line with our vision to build the infrastructure necessary to ensure the safe and healthy growth of the crypto industry — starting with understanding the risks associated with cryptocurrency transactions. Globally, we have seen strong demand — especially from financial institutions and law enforcement agencies — as crypto-related illicit activity and regulations have taken center stage."

She added that Merkle Science’s intelligence platform is highly customisable and built to evolve with crypto criminal activity, simplifying crypto compliance for users and allowing them to focus on their core competencies.

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The firm claimed that its platform employs a behaviuor-based approach to transaction risk management, resulting in proactive and effective crime monitoring and investigations.

Brandon Gath, Managing Partner at Kraken Ventures, added: “We are excited by the advanced predictive analytics that Merkel Science brings to monitoring and vetting blockchain transactions. We believe they offer a superior set of products in a market that will see tremendous growth in demand from businesses, financial institutions, and government bodies looking to strengthen their risk management and compliance capabilities."

With clients across APAC, Europe, and North America, Merkle Science claims to have grown its revenue by over 900 percent and its headcount has tripled in size over the past two years.

In the last six months, institutional interest for cryptocurrencies and compliance in the US has surged, which prompted both co-founders to move their base to New York as part of Merkle Science’s expansion plans.

Now, Merkle Science is looking to address market demand and bolster the company’s momentum by accelerating product development to serve enterprise segments, such as law enforcement agencies and financial institutions.

It is also looking to evolve its behaviour-based Rule Engine to meet the rise of privacy protocols, expand its token coverage to over 500,000 tokens, and customise solutions for decentralized finance (DeFi) and NFT platforms.