Satsuma

Satsuma, founded in 2021 by Jonathan Kau and Dan Li, operates as a blockchain indexing platform. The founding team, comprised of engineers with experience at companies like Airtable, Heap, and Y Combinator, aimed to simplify the process of building applications on top of real-time blockchain data. Kau serves as the CEO, while Li holds the CTO position.

The company's core business revolves around providing tools for web3 developers to search, analyze, and query data stored on blockchains. Its platform allows developers to create custom APIs from smart contract data, which is essential for building decentralized applications (dApps). Satsuma addresses common challenges faced by developers, such as downtime, data lag, slow re-indexing, and sluggish queries, by offering a more reliable and faster indexing solution. The service operates on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, where clients pay for access to its indexing and API services.

Satsuma's product functions as a drop-in subgraph service, utilizing open-source technology from The Graph. This allows developers to easily switch to Satsuma's hosted service and create custom GraphQL APIs for their on-chain data. The platform's benefits include significantly faster indexing speeds and reduced data lag, which helps developers create better user experiences. Key features include advanced metrics, flexible subgraph versioning, and direct support from a team of engineers. Clients such as Decentraland, Aragon, and Syndicate have utilized Satsuma's platform to enhance their applications.

In April 2023, Satsuma announced a significant milestone, having raised $5 million in a seed funding round co-led by Initialized Capital and Archetype. Other notable investors included OpenSea, Y Combinator, and Homebrew. This funding was intended to further develop the platform and expand its capabilities. Subsequently, in September 2023, the company was acquired by Alchemy, a major web3 developer infrastructure firm. Following the acquisition, Satsuma was integrated into Alchemy's offerings and rebranded as Alchemy Subgraphs, with the entire Satsuma team joining Alchemy.

Keywords: blockchain indexing, subgraph service, web3 developer tools, GraphQL API, on-chain data, smart contract data, decentralized applications, dApp development, blockchain data query, API development, Alchemy Subgraphs, Jonathan Kau, Dan Li, data indexing platform, SaaS, crypto infrastructure, The Graph, developer tooling, blockchain analytics, web3 infrastructure, data lag reduction, fast indexing