About Kintsu
Kintsu is a Technology company based in New York (United States) founded in 2023 by Stephen Novenstern. It operates as a blockchain-based liquid staking infrastructure is provided for crypto users. It operates on a Blockchain-as-a-Service model in Technology and Financial Services sectors. Kintsu has raised $6.25 million across 2 funding rounds from investors including Animoca Ventures, Castle Island Ventures and Brevan Howard. Its website kintsu.xyz draws about 11 thousand monthly visits. Kintsu offers products and services including Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs). Its focus areas include Blockchain and Liquid Staking. Its legal entity is Water Cooler Studios, Inc. Its competitors include CyberConnect, Lido, Stader, Kiln and EigenLayer and 5 more; 10 of its 10 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
Kintsu is engaged in providing next-generation liquid staking services on platforms like Monad and Hyperliquid. Gas tokens are deposited by users into stake pools, where they are transformed into Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) that represent proportional shares. These tokens are staked with validators to generate yield through Proof-of-Stake consensus and MEV fees, with returns being compounded automatically. LSTs remain composable, allowing usage in DeFi ecosystems for trading, lending, and gaming while earning yield. Governance is managed through a DAO, ensuring transparency and community involvement in validator selection and treasury management.
- Headquarters New York, United States
- Founders Stephen Novenstern
- SectorsTechnologyFinancial Services
- Website kintsu.xyz
- Social LinkedIn X
- Legal Name Water Cooler Studios, Inc.
- Total Equity Funding$6.25M (USD)
in 2 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$2.25M (USD), Seed
Apr 2025
- InvestorsAnimoca Ventures
& 12 more
Products & Services of Kintsu
Kintsu offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services, including Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs).
Tokens representing staked gas assets with composable yield.
Funding Insights of Kintsu
Kintsu has successfully raised a total of $6.25M across 2 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Seed round of $2.25 million completed in April 2025. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $6.25M
- Total Rounds 2
- Last Round Seed — $2.25M
- First Round $4M
(Jul 2024)
- Investors Count 13
All 2 funding rounds of Kintsu with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2025 | $2.25M | Seed | – | – | – |
| Jul 2024 | $4M | Seed | – | Castle Island Ventures |
13 investors in total: 11 institutional and 2 angel.
Investors in Kintsu
Kintsu has secured backing from 13 investors, including venture fund, institutional, and angel investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Animoca Ventures, Castle Island Ventures and Brevan Howard.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Venture capital fund focused on blockchain and cryptocurrency companies | – | castleisland.vc | Cambridge, United States | |
Early-stage blockchain technology companies are invested in by the firm. | – | cmt.digital | Chicago, United States | |
Advisory, venture capital, and startup services for blockchain are provided. | – | spartangroup.io | Singapore, Singapore | |
Breed VC is focused on early stage crypto investments. | – | breed.vc | - | |
Limited information is provided about Arche Capital's activities. | – | arche.capital | - | |
Investments in life sciences, technology, healthtech, and crypto sectors from global locations. | – | fprimecapital.com | - | |
Reciprocal Ventures is focused on investing in crypto founders. | – | recvc.com | New York, United States | |
Venture capital, incubator, and hedge fund focused on crypto projects | – | lbanklabs.com | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | |
Brevan Howard is recognized as a global alternative investment platform. | 2002 | brevanhoward.com | London, United Kingdom | |
Manages diversified investment portfolios across multiple asset classes. | 2019 | cmsholdings.io | Memphis, United States |
Investor details for Kintsu
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People of Kintsu
1 people are tracked at Kintsu (1 in leadership).
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Stephen Novenstern | Founder | Leadership |
Complete people profiles for Kintsu
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Timeline of Kintsu
3 dated milestones of Kintsu across 2 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Kintsu is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $4.0M.
- Funding Latest funding round, Seed, of $2.2M.
Competitors of Kintsu
Kintsu has 10 listed competitors in our database, 10 of them funded. They include CyberConnect, Lido, Stader, Kiln and EigenLayer, among others.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cyberconnect.me | 2021 | Palo Alto, United States | $25M | – | Web3 social network platform | |
| lido.fi | 2020 | Finland | $72M | 922 | Non-custodial staking for Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies is facilitated. | |
| staderlabs.com | 2021 | Singapore | $16.5M | – | Staking solutions for cryptocurrencies are provided via an online platform. | |
| kiln.fi | 2022 | Paris, France | $39.66M | – | Provider of cryptocurrency staking solutions | |
| eigenlayer.xyz | 2021 | Seattle, United States | $241.23M | 36 | Platform offering a set of smart contracts on Ethereum | |
| ether.fi | 2022 | George Town, Cayman Islands | $32.3M | – | Liquid staking protocol | |
| xend.finance | 2019 | Lagos, Nigeria | $2M | – | DeFi savings are enabled for credit unions and cooperatives. | |
| puffer.fi | 2022 | United States | $24.15M | – | Anti-slashing liquid staking is enabled for cryptocurrency via ETH bonds. | |
| solv.finance | 2021 | Beijing, China | $26M | – | Blockchain-based network for financial institutions | |
| staked.us | 2018 | New York, United States | $4.5M | – | Holdings in proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies are staked and lent by investors. |
Detailed competitors of Kintsu
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Web traffic of Kintsu
The website of Kintsu (kintsu.xyz) receives about 10.6K visits a month.
- Monthly visits10.6K
▼ 26% vs previous month
Websites whose visitors overlap most with Kintsu. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| magmastaking.xyz | 100% | 4.9K | #4,531,014 | View details | |
| owlto.finance | 95% | 107.2K | #612,986 | View details | |
shmonad.xyz | shmonad.xyz | 93% | – | #2,484,089 | – |
| figment.io | 88% | 97.1K | #444,058 | View details | |
monai.gg | monai.gg | 86% | – | #12,486,809 | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
All 24 similar websites and full traffic analytics for Kintsu
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Top companies in Blockchain & Decentralized Infrastructure
10 companies that operate in the same segment as Kintsu (Blockchain & Decentralized Infrastructure), ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Terraform Labs is engaged in blockchain technology development. | 2018 | Singapore, Singapore | USD 57 M | – | – | |
Ledger is recognized for providing secure cryptocurrency hardware wallets. | 2014 | Paris, Ile de France, France | USD 575.4 M | – | 802 | |
Decentralized exchange platform for cryptocurrency trading is operated. | 2018 | New York, New York, United States | USD 176 M | – | 217 | |
Developer of blockchain and web3 software platform | 2014 | Fort Worth, Texas, United States | USD 725 M | – | 708 | |
Public blockchain network platform | 2017 | Zug, Zug, Switzerland | USD 542.29 M | – | – | |
Scalable blockchain interoperability protocols are developed for enhanced network security. | 2017 | George Town, Cayman Islands | USD 450.75 M | – | – | |
Blockchain-based PC and mobile games are developed and published. | 2006 | Kowloon, Hong Kong, China | USD 997.58 M | USD 101.34 M | 307 | |
Protocols for blockchain-based solutions are provided by Aptos. | 2021 | Palo Alto, California, United States | USD 350 M | – | 166 | |
Cloud-based blockchain platform for application development is provided. | 2013 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 563.9 M | – | 366 | |
Blockchain-based fantasy sports marketplace is provided for multiple sports. | 2018 | Saint-mande, Val-de-marne, France | USD 738.84 M | – | 151 |
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Related news about Kintsu
Complete news archive for Kintsu
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Frequently Asked Questions about Kintsu
Kintsu was founded in 2023 and raised its 1st funding round 1 year after it was founded.
Kintsu is headquartered in New York, United States. It is registered at New York, New York, United States.
Kintsu is a funded company, having raised a total of $6.25M across 2 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Seed of $4M, raised on Jul 2024.
Kintsu is engaged in providing next-generation liquid staking services on platforms like Monad and Hyperliquid. Gas tokens are deposited by users into stake pools, where they are transformed into Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) that represent proportional shares. These tokens are staked with validators to generate yield through Proof-of-Stake consensus and MEV fees, with returns being compounded automatically. LSTs remain composable, allowing usage in DeFi ecosystems for trading, lending, and gaming while earning yield. Governance is managed through a DAO, ensuring transparency and community involvement in validator selection and treasury management.
Kintsu's top competitors include Lido, Kiln and EigenLayer.
Kintsu offers Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs).
Kintsu has 13 investors. Key investors include Animoca Ventures, Castle Island Ventures, Brevan Howard, CMT Digital, and Spartan Group.
Kintsu operates through Water Cooler Studios, Inc..