Kaito, an AI-powered search engine that scours the internet for crypto-related topics, raised $5.3 million in a round led by Dragonfly.
The Seattle startup was founded in 2022 by Yu Hu, a former international equities trader at Citadel and investment banking analyst at Deutsche Bank.
Kaito solves a pain point in the current crypto space where information is scattered across the web in places like Twitter Spaces, Reddit forums, Discord, Medium and podcast transcripts, among others.
The idea is to create an AI-powered search engine that aggregates available information online around a certain crypto-related topic, similar to Google.
“The decentralized nature of the crypto industry has led to significant information overload and fragmentation across numerous channels, making it difficult for users to access and comprehend,” the company said in a statement.
TechCrunch first reported the funding.
The new tool comes at a time when news regarding crypto comes from a mix of influencers and legacy media.
In the fallout of digital asset exchange FTX, finance-focused influencers “outshined” traditional media outlets in getting information out to the public faster, the Washington Post reported. YouTubers like Coffeezilla even interviewed FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
A user could search for information regarding the Solana blockchain, for example, then be fed a list of links to sources that can be useful in researching a certain trending topic.
Kaito’s search engine was in private alpha mode for investors but is now available for the public. A retail version of the product is free, while an institutional investor-focused edition will be through a subscription fee.
The startup is also working on integrating OpenAI’s GPT-3 tech into its platform to introduce a chatbot version of its search capabilities, similar to Microsoft Bing.
Kaito will use the fresh cash for growing the team and accelerating product development, TechCrunch reported. The startup currently has 19 employees, according to LinkedIn.
Other participants in the round included Sequoia Capital China, Jane Street, Mirana Ventures, Folius Ventures, Alpha Lab Capital, and Taurus Ventures.
