{"id":"nikil-viswanathan","title":"Nikil Viswanathan","content":"**Nikil Viswanathan** is an American entrepreneur and computer scientist known as the co-founder and CEO of the web3 development platform [Alchemy](https://iq.wiki/wiki/alchemy), and the co-creator of the viral social application Down to Lunch. He is an alumnus of Stanford University, where he specialized in Artificial Intelligence. [\\[1\\]](#cite-id-3fJjPk7WTg2RTyWf) [\\[2\\]](#cite-id-Jmq7fNoSvo5rzVYc)​\n\n## Education\n\nNikil Viswanathan earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science from Stanford University. He completed a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Computer Science, followed by a Master of Science (M.S.) in Computer Science at the same institution.  [\\[4\\]](#cite-id-uhmbRPmvNcYLi39f) \n\n## Career\n\nNikil Viswanathan is a technology entrepreneur and executive whose career has focused on software platforms, developer tools, and consumer applications. He co-founded [Alchemy](https://iq.wiki/wiki/alchemy) in 2017 and has served as its chief executive officer since its founding, overseeing the development of a [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) infrastructure and developer platform. Prior to Alchemy, he co-founded and led Down To Lunch, a social networking application active between 2016 and 2017. Earlier in his career, Viswanathan founded Fountainhop, a campus events platform, and held engineering, product management, and teaching roles, including positions at Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Stanford University, where he also served as a course and teaching assistant for multiple computer science courses.  [\\[4\\]](#cite-id-uhmbRPmvNcYLi39f)  [\\[1\\]](#cite-id-3fJjPk7WTg2RTyWf)  [\\[5\\]](#cite-id-OCwIavdLTs7M4qAW) \n\n## Media Appearances\n\nIn an interview from November 2025, Viswanathan discussed the origins of [Alchemy](https://iq.wiki/wiki/alchemy), the infrastructure challenges faced by early [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) developers, and his vision for the platform's role in the broader adoption of web3 technologies.\n\n[YOUTUBE@VID](G7hg8LI2X4w)","summary":"Nikil Viswanathan is the co-founder and CEO of Alchemy, a leading web3 developer platform. He also co-created the viral social app 'Down To Lunch'. A Stanford U...","images":[{"id":"QmQdUY1Rwm97BuBc7iFBeiFNGUqyLXhBgA9Mow4jywxEBk","type":"image/jpeg, image/png"}],"categories":[{"id":"people","title":"People in crypto"}],"tags":[{"id":"Founders"},{"id":"Developers"},{"id":"PeopleInDeFi"},{"id":"AI"}],"media":[{"id":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7hg8LI2X4w","size":"0","name":"G7hg8LI2X4w","type":null,"source":"YOUTUBE"}],"metadata":[{"id":"references","value":"[{\"id\":\"3fJjPk7WTg2RTyWf\",\"description\":\"Nikil Viswanathan's Official Website\",\"timestamp\":1770526613933,\"url\":\"http://www.nikilster.com/about.html\"},{\"id\":\"Jmq7fNoSvo5rzVYc\",\"description\":\"YouTube - Nikil Viswanathan, CEO at Alchemy, on building the foundational tools for Blockchain development!\",\"timestamp\":1770526626517,\"url\":\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7hg8LI2X4w\"},{\"id\":\"gzBtkStdiKucasSM\",\"description\":\"Nikil Viswanathan's Official X Profile\",\"timestamp\":1770526633314,\"url\":\"https://x.com/nikil?lang=en\"},{\"id\":\"uhmbRPmvNcYLi39f\",\"description\":\"LinkedIn: Nikil Viswanathan \",\"timestamp\":1770525982978,\"url\":\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikilster/\"},{\"id\":\"OCwIavdLTs7M4qAW\",\"description\":\"Medium - Nikil Viswanathan: Leading the fastest-growing company in history\",\"timestamp\":1770526701048,\"url\":\"https://medium.com/seed-stage-stories/nikil-viswanathan-leading-the-fastest-growing-company-in-history-77a03aa571b7\"}]"},{"id":"twitter_profile","value":"https://x.com/nikil"},{"id":"linkedin_profile","value":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikilster/"},{"id":"website","value":"http://www.nikilster.com/about.html"},{"id":"instagram_profile","value":"https://www.instagram.com/nikilster/"},{"id":"facebook_profile","value":"https://www.facebook.com/nikilster"},{"id":"email_url","value":"mailto:nikil@cs.stanford.edu"},{"id":"previous_cid","value":"\"https://ipfs.everipedia.org/ipfs/QmP6ogR9J4oZzPcYRUx6ozHGA2rEUib2d3thb8Ksnh2cAa\""},{"id":"commit-message","value":"\"Updated content and added 1 milestone event\""},{"id":"previous_cid","value":"QmP6ogR9J4oZzPcYRUx6ozHGA2rEUib2d3thb8Ksnh2cAa"}],"events":[{"date":"2020-08-01","title":"Co-founded Alchemy","type":"CREATED","description":"Co-founded Alchemy with Joe Lau, establishing a platform to provide infrastructure for building and scaling decentralized applications.","link":null,"multiDateStart":null,"multiDateEnd":null,"continent":null,"country":null,"id":"5c304cc6-7a0b-4437-af57-63a26411cca3"},{"date":null,"title":"Graduated from Stanford University","type":"DEFAULT","description":"Completed Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Computer Science with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence at Stanford University.","link":null,"multiDateStart":null,"multiDateEnd":null,"continent":null,"country":null,"id":"80bffdd5-129b-40b9-bad9-b175f0086361"},{"date":null,"title":"Co-created Down To Lunch App","type":"DEFAULT","description":"Co-created the 'Down To Lunch' social app, which achieved #1 in the Social App category and #2 overall in the App Store, and was featured in the New York Times.","link":null,"multiDateStart":null,"multiDateEnd":null,"continent":null,"country":null,"id":"b9086c97-e5c4-4ac8-92ae-960a947aad28"},{"date":null,"title":"Forbes 30 Under 30 Honoree","type":"DEFAULT","description":"Recognized in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for his entrepreneurial achievements with the Down to Lunch app and other ventures.","link":"http://www.nikilster.com/about.html","multiDateStart":null,"multiDateEnd":null,"continent":null,"country":null,"id":"e8f955eb-c9a4-4c51-819d-1c79012d791c"},{"date":"2021-10-01","title":"Alchemy Reaches $3.5B Valuation","type":"DEFAULT","description":"Announced Alchemy's $250 million Series C funding round, led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), valuing the company at $3.5 billion.","link":"https://x.com/nikil/status/1453916940822564864","multiDateStart":null,"multiDateEnd":null,"continent":null,"country":null,"id":"76f8873c-332b-42ad-8a5b-3d23c8fbd69c"}],"user":{"id":"0x8af7a19a26d8fbc48defb35aefb15ec8c407f889"},"author":{"id":"0x8AF7a19a26d8FBC48dEfB35AEfb15Ec8c407f889"},"operator":{"id":"0x1E23b34d3106F0C1c74D17f2Cd0F65cdb039b138"},"language":"en","version":1,"linkedWikis":{"blockchains":[],"founders":["alchemy"],"speakers":[]},"recentActivity":"{\"items\":[{\"id\":\"85ff9f0a-6353-4ce2-957b-4c0df2e1a638\",\"title\":\"Nikil Viswanathan\",\"description\":\"Nikil Viswanathan is the co-founder and CEO of Alchemy, a leading web3 developer platform. 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