Inside Benchmark’s Rare $17M Bet on Crypto App Fomo
Venture capital giant Benchmark recently led a $17 million Series A funding round for Fomo, a frictionless crypto trading “super app” founded by Paul Erlanger and Se Park, after the startup’s explosive revenue growth caught the attention of partner Chetan Puttagunta.
“There’s a lot of people we never got to, like Elon Musk,” co-founder Se Park said with a grin. However, of the high-profile targets who did take their call, only a select few turned them down.
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The Vision Behind the Crypto “Super App”
Early angel investors were instantly drawn to the concept of a unified web3 super app. Fomo promises to grant everyday consumers seamless access to millions of crypto assets across every existing blockchain, completely eliminating the technical friction that typically plagues decentralized finance. Additionally, the platform integrates a native social layer, allowing users to track, follow, and replicate the trades of friends and prominent market leaders.
While Fomo does not yet support every single asset across all networks, Erlanger and Park state they are on track to achieve near-total coverage within the next six months. Currently, users can trade millions of available assets, ranging from blue-chip giants like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana to highly speculative meme coins and micro-cap altcoins.
Expanding Beyond Crypto
The long-term roadmap for Fomo extends far beyond digital currencies. The founders envision evolving the platform into an all-in-one financial marketplace where users can trade everything from prediction markets to traditional financial instruments, including government and corporate bonds.
The Apple Pay Turning Point
Just one month after Fomo’s initial launch in May, the development team rolled out a game-changing feature: native support for Apple Pay. This integration allowed new users to download the app and instantly execute trades without navigating complex deposit processes.
“We saw a massive influx of users and revenue,” co-founder Paul Erlanger noted. Almost overnight, Fomo’s metrics surged, reaching approximately $150,000 in weekly revenue and generating $3 million in daily trading volume.
Understanding Fomo’s Fee Structure
Fomo monetizes its platform by charging a flat 0.50% transaction fee on trades. Solana transactions carry a minimum fee of $0.95, whereas cheaper networks like Base and BNB Chain have no minimum transaction limits. Crucially, Fomo absorbs the blockchain “gas fees” for its users, presenting a highly attractive cost-saving incentive for retail traders holding major cryptocurrencies.
Why Benchmark Broke Its Crypto Silence
Fomo’s aggressive angel-investor strategy yielded unexpected results when three separate investors independently contacted Benchmark general partner Chetan Puttagunta to recommend the startup.
Puttagunta was initially considered an unlikely lead candidate for Fomo’s Series A. Benchmark is notoriously selective with its investments and rarely touches the web3 space, with its few notable crypto bets including Chainalysis in 2018 and Toncoin.
However, Puttagunta—whose successful portfolio includes enterprise tech companies like Elastic, Cursor, Manus, and LangChain—was captivated by Fomo’s rapid growth trajectory. He secured the lead position in the round and joined Fomo’s board of directors.
“Paul, Se, and the entire team have a clear vision to make crypto assets both easy to discover and trade,” Puttagunta said. “Their vision is clearly resonating with truly exceptional growth since they launched a few months ago.”
Explosive Growth Post-Funding
Benchmark acted as the sole institutional investor in the Series A round, with the remaining capital secured from a mix of new and returning angel investors.
Data suggests Benchmark’s calculated risk is paying off. Since the funding round closed in September, Fomo has integrated additional blockchains and experienced a massive acceleration in user acquisition, onboarding over 120,000 users. According to Erlanger, the platform now processes between $20 million and $40 million in daily trading volume, pulling in roughly $150,000 in daily revenue.
