Startup profile for Keybase: latest funding, latest known valuation, total disclosed funding, investors, status, sources, and why the company is interesting. Part of the Venture Capital Tracker startup directory.
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Keybase funding, valuation and investors

Encrypted messaging and public-key identity platform — acquired by Zoom in 2020.

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Funding, valuation & investors

Answer-first snapshot

Latest funding

Series A

$10.8M · July 2015

Latest known valuation

Not publicly disclosed

Total disclosed equity funding

$11M

Excludes debt, grants, acquisitions, secondaries, and IPO proceeds.

Current status

acquired

acquired · New York, New York

Investors in latest funding

Lead: Andreessen Horowitz

Sources: latest funding Last verified: 2026-07-25

Overview

Keybase was a security startup offering encrypted chat, file sharing, and a public-key identity system that linked cryptographic keys to social accounts (Twitter, GitHub, Hacker News, etc.). Founded by Max Krohn and Chris Coyne (co-founders of SparkNotes and OKCupid), Keybase raised a $10.8M Series A in 2015 led by Andreessen Horowitz. Zoom acquired Keybase in May 2020 to strengthen its encryption and security capabilities during rapid pandemic-era growth. Keybase apps continued operating post-acquisition.

Why Keybase is interesting

Keybase made crypto identity usable for normies — linking Twitter/GitHub keys to encrypted chat and file sharing. a16z led its only VC round; Zoom bought the team for end-to-end encryption credibility during the pandemic video boom.

Product & use cases

Keybase provided end-to-end encrypted messaging, team chat, and file storage with a novel identity layer — users could prove ownership of social accounts via signed cryptographic proofs, creating a web-of-trust for secure communication.

  • Secure team messaging with verified identities linked to public social profiles
  • Encrypted file sharing and Git-style signed commits for developer teams
  • Public-key discovery — finding someone's encryption key via their Twitter or GitHub handle

Key facts

  • Series A (Jul 2015): $10.8M led by a16z (Keybase blog)
  • Acquired by Zoom (May 2020) for encryption and security engineering talent
  • Founded by Max Krohn and Chris Coyne — also co-founded SparkNotes and OKCupid
  • Pioneered linking cryptographic identity to social media accounts

Funding history (newest first)

Series A

2015-07 $10.8M

Source: https://keybase.io/blog/keybase-series-a

Investors in our directory

Funds linked from Keybase's profile — open a fund page for stage focus and related deal articles.

Andreessen Horowitz

Competitive landscape

Edge: Keybase solved the key-discovery problem that plagued PGP for decades by anchoring identity to existing social accounts. Founders had prior exits (SparkNotes, OKCupid) and deep crypto engineering credibility.

Encrypted messaging is crowded but identity remains hard. Keybase's social proof model was differentiated pre-acquisition; Zoom bought talent and tech for enterprise E2EE rather than consumer scale competition with Signal.

  • Signal direct

    Gold-standard encrypted messaging; lacked Keybase's social identity mapping and team file features.

  • Telegram adjacent

    Large user base with optional secret chats; not end-to-end by default for most conversations.

  • PGP/GnuPG alternative

    Legacy encrypted email standard Keybase aimed to replace with usable UX.

Notable stories

  • Krohn and Coyne previously built OKCupid and sold SparkNotes — bringing consumer-product UX instincts to cryptography, a field notorious for unusable tools.
  • Zoom acquired Keybase in May 2020 as enterprise customers demanded stronger encryption during COVID remote-work scale-up.

Industries

Cybersecurity Consumer Enterprise SaaS

FAQs about Keybase

Practical answers founders, operators, and investors typically search for.

An encrypted messaging and file-sharing app with a public-key identity system linking crypto keys to social accounts like Twitter and GitHub.
Andreessen Horowitz (/fund/andreessen-horowitz) led Keybase's $10.8M Series A in July 2015.
Zoom acquired Keybase in May 2020 to bolster end-to-end encryption capabilities.
Keybase services continued after the Zoom acquisition. Check keybase.io for current status of specific features.
Max Krohn and Chris Coyne — co-founders of SparkNotes and OKCupid.
Both offer E2EE messaging. Keybase uniquely mapped encryption keys to verified social identities and offered team file storage; Signal prioritized simple consumer messaging.
To accelerate enterprise-grade encryption development during rapid 2020 growth when security scrutiny on video platforms intensified.
$10.8M Series A (2015). Zoom acquisition terms were not publicly disclosed.
Public-key discovery — making it easy to find and trust someone's encryption key via their existing social profiles instead of manual PGP key exchange.
Series A-stage private company — Zoom acqui-hired for team and technology rather than a late-stage standalone exit.
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