Consumer crypto trading app Fomo, founded by Paul Erlanger and Se Yong Park, has raised a $17 million Series A led by Benchmark, bringing its total funding to $19 million. The deal marks a rare crypto investment for the top-tier venture capital firm, known for being highly selective in the space.
Rather than pursuing a traditional seed round, the founders took an unconventional route to raise capital. They compiled a list of 200 dream angel investors — individuals they believed could add meaningful value to their business. “We knew that every single person would be valuable to us in the business,” Erlanger told TechCrunch.
Using their networks — both founders previously worked at crypto trading platform dYdX — they sought warm introductions, and when those failed, resorted to cold calls. The strategy worked: 140 of the 200 people they reached out to ended up investing.
Among Fomo’s impressive roster of angel backers are Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron, Solana co-founder Raj Gokal, and former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan. “There’s a lot of people we never got to, like Elon Musk,” Park said jokingly, “but of the ones who did take our call, less than a handful said no.”
A “Super App” Vision for Crypto
Fomo’s core vision is ambitious: to build a super app where consumers can access and trade every crypto asset across all blockchains — without technical friction. The app also includes a social component, allowing users to follow friends or respected traders to view their activity and trades.
While the app doesn’t yet include every asset, Erlanger and Park say they’re on track to reach that goal within six months. Currently, users can trade millions of assets — from major coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana to meme coins and altcoins.
In the long term, the founders envision expanding Fomo’s capabilities beyond crypto, enabling users to trade prediction markets, bonds, and traditional securities directly within the platform.
Apple Pay Integration Sparks Explosive Growth
A key turning point came shortly after Fomo’s May 2025 launch, when the team introduced Apple Pay integration, allowing users to instantly fund accounts and start trading. The result was a surge in both user activity and revenue.
“We saw a massive influx of users and revenue,” Erlanger said. Fomo quickly scaled to $150,000 in weekly revenue and about $3 million in daily trading volume.
The company earns revenue by charging a 0.50% transaction fee per trade (with a minimum fee of $0.95 on Solana). Crucially, Fomo absorbs blockchain gas fees — a major differentiator that appeals to everyday users seeking a seamless experience.
Benchmark’s Rare Crypto Bet
Fomo’s creative fundraising paid off again when three separate angels independently introduced the company to Benchmark partner Chetan Puttagunta, known for backing startups like Elastic, Cursor, Manus, and LangChain.
Despite Benchmark’s limited exposure to crypto — its previous bets include Chainalysis and Toncoin — Puttagunta was impressed by Fomo’s rapid traction. “Paul and Se and the entire team have a clear vision to make crypto assets both easy to discover and trade,” he said. “Their vision is clearly resonating with truly exceptional growth since they launched a few months ago.”
Benchmark was the only institutional investor in the Series A; the rest of the round was filled by Fomo’s existing and new angel backers.
Surging User Growth
Since closing the round in September, Fomo has continued to expand rapidly. The app now boasts over 120,000 users, supports additional blockchains, and processes $20–$40 million in daily trading volume, generating around $150,000 in daily revenue, according to Erlanger.
With strong user growth, a viral social component, and backing from some of the biggest names in tech and crypto, Fomo’s “many-angels” strategy and frictionless trading vision appear to be paying off — and may position it as one of the most promising new consumer crypto platforms on the market.