Why we invested in Agio Ratings
By Kibriya Rahman, Investment Manager
Posted
At AlbionVC, we believe the future of finance will be defined by trust, transparency, and intelligent risk management. Building this infrastructure is as critical today as establishing clearing houses and ratings agencies was for traditional finance a century ago. With this conviction, we are delighted to lead the $6m funding round for Agio Ratings – the premier credit ratings agency for the digital asset market.
The Need for Institutional-Grade Risk Management in Digital Assets
The financial world is undergoing a profound transformation. Digital assets, once on the fringes of finance, are now shaping mainstream markets and have become a central part of the global investment landscape. We are seeing record market capitalisation, rising transaction volumes, new real-world use cases, and growing participation from both retail and institutional investors.
At the same time, regulators, traditional financial institutions, and governments have shifted from scepticism to active engagement, providing regulatory clarity that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.
Yet, while the sector’s growth has been explosive, its risk infrastructure has lagged behind. Much of the industry remains focused on AML and KYC compliance (shout-out to our portfolio company Elliptic), but other critical risk areas remain underdeveloped. Events such as the collapse of FTX, the Luna/Terra crisis, and the failures of major crypto banks have underscored a single truth: for digital assets to scale sustainably, robust risk management is non-negotiable. Without it, the entire industry remains exposed.
Enter Agio Ratings – Setting the Standard for Risk Management
Agio Ratings is building the first dedicated credit ratings agency for digital assets. Much like Moody’s or S&P transformed risk assessment in traditional finance, Agio is bringing the same level of rigour and credibility to the digital economy. Its proprietary model evaluates risks across liquidity, credit, operational, legal, and market factors; helping customers stress-test portfolios, manage counterparty exposure, and meet emerging regulatory and disclosure requirements.
Agio is already gaining traction, with leading banks, insurers, and trading firms using the platform. Its predictive accuracy is proven: it flagged elevated risks at FTX well before its collapse, identified multiple high-risk exchanges that subsequently defaulted, and correctly assessed that Bybit had sufficient resilience to withstand its $1.5bn security breach. This is exactly the kind of capability institutions need as they navigate a fast-moving and volatile market.
An Exceptional Team to Lead the Change
Building trust in a new financial category requires exceptional leadership. CEO Ana De Sousa brings a rare combination of regulatory, institutional, and crypto-native expertise, having previously led crypto risk policy at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and served as one of the founding employees at prime brokerage FalconX (now valued at $8bn).
Ana is supported by co-founders Kelly Hampaul and Henry Stott, industry veterans in hedge funds and decision science, alongside a world-class team of researchers, engineers, and data scientists. Together, they have the vision, expertise, and execution capability to build a category-defining company.
Closing Thoughts
Agio is on a mission to become a generational company – one that sets the global standard for risk management in digital assets. We are at a critical inflection point for the sector, and this funding round will enable the team to accelerate product development and expand their reach across the financial ecosystem.
We are proud to support Ana, Kelly, Henry, and the entire Agio team on this journey, alongside exceptional co-investors including Portage, MS&AD Ventures, and Superscrypt.
Our investment in Agio Ratings reflects AlbionVC’s broader commitment to backing category-leading software companies that leverage technology to transform industries. Agio joins our growing roster of digital asset investments – including Elliptic and OpenTrade – and complements our portfolio of financial risk and data leaders such as Quantexa, Treefera, Infact Systems, Solidatus, and Accelex.
