For developers building on blockchains, the most basic requirement,access to the data,is often the hardest to get. The standard approach, running a full node and scanning its logs, is slow, resource-intensive, and brittle. StreamingFast, a Montreal-based company founded in 2018, is betting that the future of Web3 infrastructure looks less like a database query and more like a high-pressure firehose, streaming binary data to wherever an application needs it.
The company’s pivot, cemented by a $60 million grant from The Graph Foundation in 2021, represents a significant strategic shift. It moved from a traditional SaaS model to becoming a core protocol developer, its tools now fundamental plumbing for The Graph’s decentralized indexing network. For developers, the promise is a leap in speed and composability, turning blockchain data into a real-time utility.
The wedge: Firehose and Substreams
At the core of StreamingFast’s offering are two open-source technologies designed to work in tandem. Firehose is a high-throughput data extraction layer that reads directly from blockchain nodes, outputting a stream of raw, ordered blocks. It is the intake valve. Substreams is the transformation engine, a Rust-based layer where developers write modules to filter, enrich, and reshape that firehose of data for specific applications, from tracking NFT mints to powering trading systems.
The technical differentiation rests on a streaming-first, parallelized architecture. Unlike traditional indexing that often involves repeated database scans, Substreams processes data as it flows, aiming for what the company calls “extreme speeds.” Developers can chain community-built modules together, aiming to reduce the need to reinvent the wheel for common data transformations.
A grant-driven strategic reset
The company’s current trajectory was defined in June 2021. Originally named dfuse, the startup rebranded to StreamingFast and announced a five-year, $60 million core-developer grant from The Graph Foundation [BetaKit, June 2021]. The capital was structured to support the company’s integration into The Graph ecosystem and fund network activities. Notably, part of the grant proceeds were used to buy out the company’s existing venture investors, including Multicoin Capital and Intel Capital, making StreamingFast a fully employee-owned entity aligned with the protocol’s success [BetaKit, June 2021].
This transaction consolidated the company’s path. Its mission is no longer to sell a standalone API service but to ensure its Firehose and Substreams technology becomes the default high-performance data layer for The Graph and, by extension, any developer needing fast blockchain data.
The team behind the pipes
The founding team brings a blend of venture-building experience and deep technical chops, having been initially supported by Montreal venture builder Diagram Ventures.
| Role | Founder | Background Note |
|---|---|---|
| CEO | Marc-Antoine Ross | Former Chief Innovation Officer at Diagram Ventures; led the strategic pivot from SaaS to protocol infrastructure. |
| COO | Mathieu Boulianne | Managed the rebrand and grant transaction details. |
| CTO | Alexandre Bourget | Technical co-founder; prolific open-source contributor with a noted software engineering career. |
| Co-Founder | Richard Reiner | Served as Executive Chair, bringing leadership experience from prior ventures. |
With just 12 employees as of late 2024, the team operates with a focused, engineering-heavy footprint, consistent with its role as an infrastructure core developer.
Traction and the ecosystem play
StreamingFast’s traction is intrinsically linked to the adoption of its open-source tools within The Graph and broader blockchain ecosystems. The company does not sell software licenses; its hosted service handles billing, authentication, and dashboards for developers using its public endpoints. Key signals of adoption include:
- Core Protocol Integration. Firehose and Substreams are integrated into The Graph’s indexing stack, a foundational endorsement.
- Chain Partnerships. The company has been featured by BNB Chain and participated in funding rounds for Aptos Labs and Lighthouse Labs, indicating deep technical integrations with these networks [BNB Chain, June 2021].
- Developer Use Cases. Public documentation shows Substreams being used to track DeFi activity on Ethereum and BSC, monitor NFT events, and sink data to over 20 destinations, [11], [5].
The performance versus practicality test
The bet is ambitious, but it faces a crowded and evolving market. The primary challenge is one of developer mindshare and practical adoption. While the technology promises performance, the incumbent pain point for many builders is simplicity and reliability, not necessarily nanosecond latency.
- Established Alternatives. Companies like Alchemy and Moralis offer more holistic, developer-friendly node and API suites that abstract away infrastructure complexity. Goldsky and Subsquid are also competing directly in the high-performance indexing space.
- The Integration Burden. For a developer, adopting Substreams means writing Rust modules and managing data pipelines, a higher technical bar than using a conventional REST API.
- Protocol Dependency. StreamingFast’s fortunes are now closely tied to The Graph’s success and its ability to become the dominant indexing protocol. Any stumbles in that broader ecosystem directly impact the company.
The company’s answer is that for advanced use cases,high-frequency trading, cross-chain bridges, real-time analytics,the performance and flexibility of a streaming architecture are non-negotiable. Its goal is to become the indispensable backend for those demanding applications, hoping that ease of use will follow as the tooling matures.
What to watch in the next 12 months
For StreamingFast, the coming year will be measured in protocol milestones and developer adoption metrics, not quarterly revenue. Key indicators will be the expansion of Firehose support to more blockchains and the growth of a library of reusable Substreams modules. The company will also need to demonstrate that its hosted service can achieve sustainable scale, converting free-tier users into paying customers as their applications grow.
The standard of care for a developer needing blockchain data today is often a patchwork: a managed node service from one provider, a separate indexing setup, and custom scripts to fill the gaps. It’s a process that can consume weeks of engineering time and still fail under load. StreamingFast is proposing a new standard, one where data is a real-time stream, indexers are composable Rust modules, and the entire stack is open-source. For the patient developer building the next generation of decentralized finance or gaming protocols, that could be the difference between a prototype and a product. For everyone else, it’s a bet that the infrastructure layer needs to be rebuilt from the pipe up.
Sources
- [BetaKit, June 2021] Dfuse rebrands, secures $73.5 million CAD grant to develop blockchain infrastructure project | https://betakit.com/dfuse-rebrands-secures-73-5-million-cad-grant-to-develop-blockchain-infrastructure-project/
- [GamesBeat, June 2021] Blockchain indexing firm The Graph enlists Streaming Fast in 60m grant deal | https://gamesbeat.com/blockchain-indexing-firm-the-graph-enlists-streaming-fast-in-60m-grant-deal/
- [BNB Chain, June 2021] BSC Project Spotlight: StreamingFast | https://www.bnbchain.org/en/blog/bsc-project-spotlight-streamingfast
- [streamingfast.io, Unknown] Chain data at extreme speeds and awesome composability | StreamingFast | https://www.streamingfast.io/
- [5] StreamingFast product documentation
- [9] Employee count reference
- [10] Substreams use case documentation
- [11] Substreams use case documentation