a16z, Coinbase back $50m funding round for Morpho

Decentralized crypto lender Morpho has announced a $50 million strategic investment round involving leading crypto venture capital firms including a16z and Coinbase Ventures.

Morpho announced on August 1, 2024 that it led a funding round from early-stage VC investor Ribbit Capital, whose portfolio includes Robinhood, Revolut, Coinbase, NuBank, and Mercado Libre.

Morpho CEO says financing is key to growth

Morpho will use the strategic funding to support the decentralization of its network. The funds will also be used to support global growth for public benefit financial infrastructure, Morpho CEO Paul Frambot wrote in a blog post. According to Frambot, the support from these top VC firms is key to the protocol’s continued growth in the decentralized finance space.

It’s been two years since its launch, and Morpho has grown from its primary product. What started as an optimization layer for interest rates on Aave and Compound, called Morpho Optimizer, has evolved into Morpho Blue, a layered architecture that allows for the creation of credit protocols with built-in risk management features. The funding provides an opportunity for Morpho to grow by providing grants to active contributors who help build the DeFi infrastructure.

“The potential impact of Morpho extends far beyond existing DeFi markets because the protocol has the capacity to become a decentralized infrastructure to support a truly global, internet-based financial system,” Frambot said.

a16z Backs Coinbase Ventures Morpho

Morpho Labs’ latest funding round included Ribbit Capital as well as some of the cryptocurrency market’s largest VC firms.

These include Andreessen Horowitz, Coinbase Ventures, Pantera Capital, Variant, Brevan Howard, and BlockTower.

The strategic funding round follows Morpho Labs’ $18 million funding round in July 2022, which was led by a16z and Variant.