Exclusive: Index Ventures, Union Square Ventures back trading app Fomo at $550 million valuation
Two established investors are feeling crypto FOMO. Index and Union Square Ventures have backed the crypto startup Fomo, named after the acronym for “fear of missing out,” the company announced on Monday. Index Ventures led the $75 million Series B fundraise, which valued Fomo at $550 million. Other participants include Zygna cofounder Mark Pincus, Discord CEO Humam Sakhnini, and Eventbrite cofounder Kevin Hartz. In the doldrums of a crypto down market, it’s rare to see established venture firms that don’t exclusively focus on digital assets lead a fundraise for a crypto startup. Still, Index, which has made its name for bets on non-crypto companies like Figma and Scale AI, isn’t a stranger to the world of blockchain. The Geneva-born firm has backed the stablecoin startup Bridge, which Stripe acquired for $1.1 billion in 2025. Similarly, Union Square Ventures has invested in the blockchain Polygon and crypto developer Matter Labs. “We’re not doing Fomo because it’s a crypto business,” Julia Andre, a partner at Index Ventures, told me. “We’re doing Fomo because we think there is a market shift there, and they have what it takes to capture this next wave of consumer blockchain trading.” Not a crypto app The fear of missing out often pushes traders to pile into buzzy memecoins or the newest, hottest token. And it’s a phenomenon Fomo cofounders Paul Erlanger, Se Yong Park, and Prashan Dharmasena saw firsthand while working at the crypto trading platform dYdX. The trio also witnessed how difficult trading digital assets can be. There are thousands of cryptocurrencies, countless blockchains, arcane fees to pay for swapping tokens, and complicated onboarding processes. “Onchain trading is just impossible,” Erlanger told me. So, in 2025, they set out to create an online and mobile app that simplified the experience. “Someone should be able to onboard into Fomo, fund their account, and buy a token within like 30 seconds, regardless of if they’re famili