Freatic

Freatic, founded in 2021, operates as a developer of decentralized information exchange protocols. The company is focused on creating marketplaces for valuable information that were previously hindered by the non-rivalrous nature and market failures of information goods. Its core mission is to bridge the gap between individuals holding untapped knowledge and market actors who can capitalize on it.

The firm secured a significant milestone in September 2023, raising $3.6 million in a seed funding round. The round was led by a16z crypto, with participation from other notable investors including Placeholder, Electric Capital, Anagram, Archetype, and high-profile angel investors like Balaji Srinivasan and Naval Ravikant. This capital is intended to expand the team, further product development, and facilitate a beta launch.

Freatic's approach is rooted in applying engineering design principles, similar to those used in the aerospace industry, to create sustainable, incentive-compliant decentralized mechanisms. The business model leverages decentralization, game theory, and advanced cryptography to enable trustless interactions and secure information flow between participants. This overcomes traditional barriers where valuable information remains within closed, informal trust networks. The company's primary products operate within the cryptocurrency and blockchain software industry. Their latest product, Murmur, is positioned as a monetization layer for 'alpha', or market-beating information.

Historically, Freatic has developed several applications as building blocks for its current platform. These include 'hotnewcrypto' (2020-2023), a service for detecting and curating early-stage crypto projects for investors; 'The Alpha Factory' on Polygon, which incentivized the sharing of crypto insights; and 'Capture The Alpha' on Arbitrum, a system for registering secret information with conditional release triggers. By building on Arbitrum, a layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum, Freatic aims to offer lower transaction costs and faster speeds compared to earlier decentralized information markets.

Keywords: decentralized information markets, information exchange protocol, crypto alpha, a16z crypto, incentive-compliant mechanisms, blockchain software, web3, decentralized finance, Arbitrum, information goods, game theory, modern cryptography, Murmur, The Alpha Factory, hotnewcrypto, Capture The Alpha, seed funding, venture capital, Balaji Srinivasan, Naval Ravikant