Venture Capital
Paradigm co-founder feels ‘deep regret’ investing in SBF and FTX
The co-founder of asset management firm Paradigm says they feel “deep regret” for having invested in FTX amid recent revelations involving FTX, Alameda Research, and Sam Bankman-Fried. In a Twitter post on Nov. 15, Matt Huang, co-founder and managing partner of Paradigm said the firm is “shocked” by the revelations surrounding the two companies and their founder, adding: “We feel deep regret for having invested in a founder and company who ultimately did not align with crypto’s values and who have done enormous damage to the ecosystem.” Matt Huang, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Paradigm Source: Paradigm Paradigm is a crypto and Web3-focused venture capital firm based in San Francisco. In April reports suggested the firm’s assets under management totaled approximately $13.2 billi...
Founders should consider VC firms their allies as they build in the bear market
This year’s bear market trajectory should be looked upon as a favorable opportunity for Web3 founders to raise capital and build cutting-edge products. Some of the most robust businesses today were built during market downturns, and founders now have a real opportunity to ensure they’re building products and services that meet genuine, real-world needs and look beyond oversized checks to find the most suitable business partnership. Determining the best methods to fund your product and company is of paramount importance and not a decision to be rushed into. It is an action that requires due diligence and an acute understanding of how the partnership will function and, more importantly, flourish in the face of adverse markets. Before a founder embarks on the journey of attracting inves...
VC Roundup: Web3 dev, EVM sharding and crypto banking headline blockchain funding deals
Web3 dominance within crypto funding rounds has been well documented by Cointelegraph Research. In addition to the Web3 mega funds announced recently, venture capital has also been making smaller, more targeted investments in the sector. In this week’s Venture Capital (VC) Roundup, we chronicle the latest Web3 funding initiatives and draw attention to a sharding platform, nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace, crypto banking solution and co-ownership infrastructure provider. Related: Blockchain games and metaverse projects raised $1.3B in Q3: DappRadar Gamers, athletes and content creators back WWVentures WWVentures, a boutique crypto venture firm, has raised $15 million for its Web3 fund — putting the company on track to invest in metaverse, decentralized finance and blockchain gaming...
Celestia Foundation raises $55M for modular blockchain architecture
Celestia Foundation announced on Oct. 18 that it had raised $55 million in a funding round led by Bain Capital Crypto, Polychain Capital, Placeholder, Galaxy, Delphi Digital, Blockchain Capital, NFX, Protocol Labs, Figment, Maven 11, Spartan Group, FTX Ventures, Jump Crypto, and angel investors; Balaji Srinivasan, Eric Wall, and Jutta Steiner. Celestia is building a modular blockchain architecture with the hope of solving challenges inherent when deploying and scaling blockchains. The company suggested that it intends to build infrastructure that will make it easy for anyone with the technical know-how to deploy their own blockchain at minimal expense. The company indicated that its modular blockchain architecture will focus on improving scalability, shared security, and sovereignty issues...
Web3 infrastructure firm ChainSafe raises $18.75M as attention shifts to GameFi
Canadian Web3 infrastructure company ChainSafe has closed an $18.75 million funding round that was backed by prominent industry venture firms, putting the company on track to expand operations at a time when demand for blockchain infrastructure and gaming services was on the rise. The Series A round was led by venture firm Round13 with additional participation from NGC Ventures, HashKey Capital, Sfermion, Jsquare, ConsenSys, Digital Finance Group and Fenbushi Capital. ChainSafe said the funding would go toward supporting the growth and adoption of Web3 technology. ChainSafe’s founding team met at an Ethereum meetup in Toronto in 2017. Later that year, ChainSafe was founded as a blockchain research and development firm. The company mainly focuses on multi-chain R&D and other Web3 umbrel...
a16z leads $40M raise for decentralized knowledge protocol
Decentralized knowledge protocol Golden has closed a $40 million funding round led by venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, or a16z, with additional participation from Protocol Labs, OpenSea Ventures and the founders of Solana, Dropbox, Postmates and Twitch, among others. In addition to leading the Series B funding round, Andreessen Horowitz’s general partner Ali Yahya will join Golden’s board alongside a16z cofounder Marc Andreessen. The funding gives Golden additional resources to continue building its protocol, which is designed to standardize the discovery and verification of knowledge in the era of Web3. Specifically, Golden is developing a decentralized interface that incentivizes collecting and verifying canonical data. The company claims that over 35,000 users participated in ear...
Pantera Capital’s CEO suggests blockchain growth will continue despite economic turmoil
The economic landscape may seem dire at the moment, but it’s unlikely to affect blockchain development, according to Pantera Capital CEO Dan Morehead. In an interview for Real Vision on Thursday, the venture capitalist said that he believes blockchain technology will perform based on its own fundamentals, regardless of the conditions indicated by traditional risk metrics: “Like any disruptive thing, like Apple or Amazon stock, there are short periods of time where it’s correlated with the S&P 500 or whatever risk metric you want to use. But over the last 20 years, it’s done its own thing. And that’s what I think will happen with blockchain over the next ten years or whatever, it’s going to do its own thing based on its own fundamentals.” ...
Japanese banking giant Nomura launches digital ecosystem VC arm
Nomura, one of the largest investment banks in Japan, has established a venture capital arm aimed at investing in companies focusing on crypto and blockchain. In a Wednesday announcement, Nomura said the business, named Laser Digital, will “provide new value in the area of digital assets” for clients under the Switzerland-based holding company Laser Digital Holdings AG. The investment bank said it chose Switzerland based on its “robust regulatory regime for digital assets and blockchain projects” in addition to potentially recruiting talent. “Staying at the forefront of digital innovation is a key priority for Nomura,” said president and group CEO of Nomura Holdings Kentaro Okuda. Laser Digital’s venture capital product, Laser Venture Capital, will focus on investments including centralize...
Nigerian Healthtech Startup Remedial Health Secures $4.4-Million in Seed Funding
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NFTs will bring crypto to billions of users, explains VC investor
Avichal Garg, the CEO and co-founder of Electric Capital, defines himself as “an NFT maximalist” – who believes that nonfungible tokens (NFTs) will play an essential role in bringing crypto to the masses. Unlike other crypto niches, NFTs are relatable to aspects of everyday life such as art, music and games. “I could imagine that NFTs are actually many billions of people because it’s ultimately culture. And that’s something that everybody can participate in and everybody can understand,” said Garg in an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph. [embedded content] In particular, Garg is bullish about NFTs being used in the gaming industry, which he sees growing at an exponential pace. “In 18-24 months from now, I think we’re just going to see this onslaught of (N...
Blockchain incubator valued at $100M following NGC Ventures-led Series A
Blockchain-focused incubator and adviser PANONY has closed a Series A funding round backed by NGC Ventures, one of Asia’s largest crypto investment firms, putting the company on track to expand its portfolio and geographic presence. Although the funding terms weren’t disclosed, the Series A gave PANONY a valuation of $100 million, the company reported Monday. The Hong Kong-based PANONY said it would use the funds to expand into other jurisdictions, launch new service offerings and expand its networking capabilities. Founded in 2018 by Alyssa Tsai and Tongtong Bee, PANONY invests in blockchain- and Web3-focused startups and offers ongoing advisory and business support. The company maintains operations across Greater China, South Korea and the United States. While PANONY didn’t disclos...
Crypto Biz: You can’t stop the Tether FUD
In the world of crypto, FUD stands for fear, uncertainty and doubt. It’s often evoked intentionally to draw negative attention to a particular project or business. One of crypto’s most enduring legacies has been the constant FUD surrounding Tether, whose USDT stablecoin commands a market capitalization of nearly $68 billion. Whether intentional or not, The Wall Street Journal ran a story this week claiming that Tether was on the edge of technical insolvency and that it wouldn’t take much to push the stablecoin issuer into financial peril. Of course, Tether didn’t take it lying down and immediately issued a response to what it considered to be a “disinformation” campaign by the Journal. Regardless of which side of the debate you’re on, it’s becoming clear that there is a strong media ...
