a16z, Coinbase back $50m funding round for Morpho

Decentralized crypto lender Morpho announces $50 million strategic round backed by a16z and Coinbase Ventures, among other top crypto venture capital firms.

On August 1, 2024, Morpho discloses that Ribbit Capital, an early-stage VC investor with portfolio including Robinhood, Revolut, Coinbase, NuBank, and Mercado Libre, led the funding round.
Funding key to Morpho's growth, CEO says

Morpho will use the strategic funding to strengthen its network's decentralization. The funds will also be used to support global growth for financial infrastructure as a public good, according to Morpho CEO Paul Frambot. Frambot notes that support from these top venture capital firms is crucial for the protocol's continued growth within the decentralized finance space.

Two years after its launch, Morpho has grown from its primary product. Starting as an optimization layer for interest rates on Aave and Compound, called Morpho Optimizer, the platform has evolved into Morpho Blue, a layered architecture allowing for the creation of lending protocols featuring built-in risk management features. Funding provides an opportunity for Morpho to flourish by providing grants to active contributors helping to build its DeFi infrastructure.

"The potential impact of Morpho extends far beyond current DeFi markets, as the protocol is capable of becoming decentralized infrastructure to underpin a truly global, internet-native financial system," Frambot emphasizes.

a16z, Coinbase Ventures back Morpho

In addition to Ribbit Capital, Morpho Labs' latest funding round attracted participation from some of crypto market's largest VC firms.

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

The strategic funding round follows the $18 million financing round Morpho Labs secured in July, 2022, led by a16z and Variant.