Messari Fundraising Data

Messari's fundraising database provides an in-depth look at crypto fundraising rounds, M&A transactions, investment fund raises, and detailed portfolio data for investment firms and individual angel investors. We aim to capture the entirety of the crypto domain, offering users a holistic perspective of investments and fundraising activities within the sector.

The foundation for our database was strengthened with the acquisition of Dove Metrics in July 2022. Our dedicated team of analysts then dove deep into manual research to enrich, backfill, and complete fundraising data where public information is available. Our process involves meticulous analysis of leading news outlets, company documentation, and collaboration with blockchain teams and investment firms.

As the dynamic crypto fundraising world evolves, we will continually refine our dataset, updating and incorporating new information as it surfaces.

Which companies are included?

The database encompasses a broad spectrum of companies including crypto and NFT projects, metaverse platforms, and gaming entities. Also featured are service-focused firms and key infrastructure entities ranging from mining services to exchanges, wallets, and market makers.

It's important to note that the database omits companies with only a tangential link to blockchain or those where crypto is not a core aspect of their business. All companies are listed by their most recent names to stay current, ensuring any rebrands or evolutions are accurately captured.

Classification

Projects, organizations, and investors are classified via the Messari Classification System.

Definitions

Funding Rounds

Dates

We determine the announcement date mainly from the date associated with a fundraising round announcement. It is worth noting that the announcement date differs from when the funding round closed, as this information is often private.

Additionally, in the database, some announcements may refer to previous fundraising rounds for the company. To ensure that we maintain a consistent and comprehensive dataset and to support accurate historical comparisons, we follow these guidelines when approximating dates:

If we have the day, month, and year, list the date
If we have the month and year, use the first day of the month (for example, November 2017 would be 11/1/2017)
If we have only a year, use the first day of the year (for example, “in 2016” would be 1/1/2016)

Announcement URL

This is a direct link to an announcement related to the fundraising round. We prioritize announcements directly from the funded team or an investor involved in the round. If such primary sources are unavailable, we rely on reputable news outlets like Coindesk, Techcrunch, and others for this information.

Type

We categorize the "type" based on the funding stage specified in the announcement article. For non-standard investment types, we use the following guidelines:

Unknown: This category is used when the round's stage is not detailed in the announcement or doesn't align with a typical investment category.
Strategic: These investments, typically highlighted in announcements, involve either one firm's investment in another or occur at intervals between recognized stages, like Series A, Series B, etc.
Private Token Sale: Represents token investments that are exclusively accessible to certain individuals or entities and not to the general public.
Public Token Sale: This includes a range of public fundraising techniques such as ICOs, IDOs, IEOs, and other similar crowdfunding mechanisms.

Messari aims to accurately classify funding rounds into as many relevant stages as possible.

Stage

A classification that indicates the specific phase or period of financial investment a company is in. The nature and purpose of the capital raised typically identifies this stage.

Seed: Encompasses both Seed and Pre-seed investment phases.
Early Stage Venture: Covers all equity investments that occur post-Seed but before reaching Series C.
Late Stage Venture: Represents equity investments starting from Series C up to, but not including, the IPO.
Public Equity Offering: Refers to an Initial Public Offering (IPO) or similar events.
Post-Public Equity: Investments made following the completion of an IPO.
Miscellaneous: Pertains to fundraising rounds that don't align with the above categories. This includes but is not limited to, strategic investments, token sales, and others.

Amount

The recorded amount is in USD for each fundraising round as of the date linked to that round. If the initial announcement is in a different currency, we convert that amount to USD using the exchange rate for the currency pair on the date associated with the funding round.

Please note amounts in an announcement labeled as "expected to raise" or "seeks to raise" aren't included. These figures are logged in the database as zero since we can't verify the amount received.

Valuation

Messari uses the post-money valuation when the information is available.

Investors

Messari aims to provide a thorough list of investment firms and individual angel investors for each funding round to offer comprehensive investment portfolios. Our displayed information results from analyzing various sources, including multiple announcements, official company documents, reviews of investment firm portfolios, and more. It's important to highlight that the linked announcement for a round may not list every investor mentioned, but this information was verified elsewhere.

Often, complete details emerge gradually and might not be available during the initial announcement. Messari will consistently update and enhance the database as new data surfaces.

Data Challenges

Due to the private nature of venture fundraising deals, the dataset is constrained by what is publicly available. As such, the database reflects the information available in public announcements. This methodology injects inherent biases in the data, reflected below:

Availability of Deal Data

The process for sourcing and aggregating crypto fundraising deals is a manual process that requires many broad data sources. Public information is most available for prominent and bigger investment firms and companies. As such, the data is inherently skewed towards these larger entities. Smaller investment firms and projects will be less represented in the dataset, but this information has been logged where available.

Additionally, it is common for all sizes of companies to have their initial fundraising activities unannounced to the public. As a result, when examining the database from a perspective of complete information for a company’s fundraising activities, especially in terms of the total amount raised, these preliminary and typically smaller fundraising rounds might be absent.

Data Latency

Fundraising rounds close well before being announced to the public. The fundraising close date is often not available to the public. When aggregating data based on publicly available information, there is an inherent bias representing a lag between the closed date and the announced date.

Investors

Some investment firms or angel investors may invest in a company but ask to be left off the announcement of the fundraising round. Additionally, fundraising announcements include some iteration of “with additional investors.” Messari aims to present complete investor information for fundraising rounds and investor portfolios, but this is not always possible.

Corrections

Messari actively seeks to present the most complete and accurate data for crypto fundraising. We will continually monitor, backfill, and correct incomplete or incorrect data. If you want to see your investment firm or company’s data in the database, please contact [email protected].