Ruceto tracked over $50 million in institutional investments into crypto or web3 companies last week. Links to the target company website, investment announcement, and token info are provided via hyperlinks on the Target Name, $ Raised, and Token columns respectively.
| Target Name | $ Raised | Lead Investors | Description | Token |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Arf |
Circle Ventures, Hard Yaka, United Overseas Bank Venture Management, Signum Capital, Stellar Development Foundation |
Global settlement banking platform with web3 technology |
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Foundation Capital, Road Capital |
Creators of TRIP, a decentralized rideshare on Solana |
TBD |
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Bloomberg Beta |
Helps build DAOs |
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ParaFi Capital, White Star Capital, Shima Capital |
Building MOD, a decentralized, yield-bearing stablecoin, and the liquidity provisioning layer on
Aptos |
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Dan Holzmann, Tioga Capital |
E-retailer for digital collectible assets in the luxury sector |
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Jam Fund |
Building cross-chain wallet infrastructure |
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Race Capital |
Wallet for Aptos |
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Ego Death Capital |
Integrates Bitcoin’s Lightning Network with the energy industry |
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Lemniscap |
Web3-powered newsletters |
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Binance Labs |
Cybersecurity partner for web3 |
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Luno Expeditions, Ribbit Capital, Intersection Fintech Ventures |
Blockchain-based platform of trust for cryptocurrencies based on advanced mathematics, cryptography, and zero-knowledge proofs |
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Decentralized Engineering Corporation is building a decentralized rideshare protocol on Solana. The app looks similar to Uber or Lyft, and riders can pay with a credit card or the stablecoin USDC. There will be a governance token for the protocol.
Exclusible supports luxury brands in developing their web3 offerings. Existing clients include Asprey Bugatti, Christian Lacroix and Louis Moinet. Upcoming drops will be viewable here: https://exclusible.com/upcoming
Thala Labs is buildin MOD (Move Dollar), an over-collateralized, yield-bearing stablecoin on Aptos. Thala Labs’ roadmap will be unveiled over the coming weeks. Thala Labs seeks to solve the DeFi stablecoin trilemma by offering peg stability, security, and capital efficiency.
Institutional Investors of Crypto
Unsurprisingly, some of the top crypto funds in the world are announcing that their valuations have taken significant haircuts this year. According to the Block, Pantera Capital’s early-stage token fund is down 71% year to date as of September, although it has returned 372% since inception. Per WSJ, a16z’s flagship crypto fund is lost 40% in value in the first half of 2022. However, the same WSJ report mentions that this fund previously posted returns that were the best in venture capital history.
The likely punchline from all this is that VCs will continue to invest in crypto and web3 at a slower pace. As shown by a helpful Twitter thread by Hustle Fund co-founder Elizabeth Yin, an abundance of VC dry powder does not necessarily translate to a constant flow of rapid investing. “Dry Powder” (committed capital from LPs to be invested by the VC) is not sitting in a bank account, but rather it needs to be called by the VC to be invested in startups. In a bear market, LPs may not be enthusiastic to receive a capital call. We are also seeing a reduction in new fundraising, which is uprising given the massive new funds that were raised shortly before the crypto bear market.
Cycles are normal, and great companies can emerge from bear markets. When the Dot Com bubble popped and stocks fell as much as 75% by October 2002, some tech giants like Amazon emerged from the bear market. A reduction in investor activity is A) not necessarily permanent, and B) does not mean that there are no good buying opportunities.
What’s happening at Ruceto
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