Ten Crypto VCs to Watch in 2024
At any one time the web3 world is coursing with liquidity – and venture capital firms dedicated to bootstrapping blockchain projects have a big role to play in keeping it that way.
Hedge funds and family offices compete with angel investors to fund an array of crypto projects, from decentralized social networks, layer-1 networks and infrastructure providers to DePINs, play-to-earn games and moonshot memecoins.
While we’re familiar with the heavy hitters – Paradigm, PCG, Pantera, Coinbase, a16z – a large percentage of investment comes from lesser-known but highly active VCs, tight-knit teams constantly scouring the landscape for the next 100x. Here are ten such crypto VCs to keep an eye on in 2024.
Paper Ventures
Launched in early 2024, Paper Ventures has wasted no time in establishing itself as an ambitious player in the crowded web3 VC space. Out of the gate, the founder-first firm announced a $25 million war chest dedicated to strategic investment in early-stage and pre-seed projects where the team felt they could provide the most value.
That founding team, incidentally, comprises Danish Chaudhry, Oliver Blakey and Ivailo Jordanov, three OG investors very much deep in the game – rich in both resources and industry connections having experienced multiple cycles. This year, Paper has invested and led the rounds for a number of promising projects such as digital ID solution Holonym, new crypto casino Monkey Tilt, and entertainment-focused superchain Sophon.
Rarestone Capital
Rarestone Capital is an early-stage VC established in 2020 during DeFi summer. Focused on backing founders with intellectual and financial capital at pre-seed and seed stage, the fund brings over five years of veteran on-chain expertise to their portfolio.
Each of Rarestone’s founding partners specializes in a different area of expertise, offering a diverse skill set for hands-on support. These include product, strategy, marketing, finance, and business development. Some of the fund’s most promising investments include Jito, Spectral, Qredo, Biconomy, Manta, and Solana.
DWF Labs
DWF Labs is a prolific web3 investor and market maker, and one of the industry’s leading high-frequency crypto trading entities. In addition to investing in early-stage projects, DWF supports them with market making, product development, PR and OTC liquidation, leveraging its vast experience of trading spot and derivatives markets on over 60 top exchanges.
Since 2022, the Singapore-based firm has invested in more than 740 projects and, in some cases, covers all costs to ensure a project’s token goes to market quickly and performs as expected. Another feather in the cap of DWF is that it’s one of the few VCs capable of investing in, listing and market making, making it highly attractive to founders seeking not only a capital boost but ongoing strategic support.
Nascent
Nascent is a VC made up of “builders, investors and explorers,” which is a roundabout way of saying its team is very much cut from the same cloth as the crypto founders they regularly back. Launched in 2020, the fund has a particular focus on supporting early-stage projects who are creating products and primitives for an open financial world.
In recent years, Nascent has thrown its financial muscle behind the likes of Morpho Labs, Satflow, Yup and Messari, guided by the instinct and experience of co-founders Joshua Felker and Dan Elitzer.
GameFi Ventures
Unsurprisingly given its name, GameFi Ventures invests mostly in blockchain-powered games, releases that it believes will usher in the next generation of gaming.
Launched in 2021, the Hong Kong-based fund has amassed an impressive portfolio over the last three years, making pledges to support a range of games including Aradena, Shrapnel and Apeiron. Earlier this year, it also made an undisclosed investment in MANTRA, a L1 chain focused on tokenizing real-world assets.
Arca
An asset management firm that offers institutional-caliber products for discerning investors, Arca brings tradfi pragmatism to the wild world of web3. With credit and equities experience spanning over two decades, the firm analyzes global economic events and asset classes alongside crypto-specific happenings to identify early-stage ventures to add to its portfolio.
Since its first foray into the crypto world, Arca has invested in a range of projects including games, infrastructure protocols, wallet solutions, and DeFi platforms, with notable examples including ImmutableX, Mythos and Mintify.
Raptor Capital
An investment and advisory services firm focused on bootstrapping the next generation of disruptive blockchain startups, Singapore-based Raptor Capital was founded by Oliver Ngg, a top crypto influencer and advisor to projects as diverse as YOP, FalconSwap and OPT.
Launched in the midst of the pandemic in 2020, the firm has since invested in around three dozen web3 ventures including Fame AI, DAO Maker, MetaWars, Coin98, GullNetwork and Victoria VR.
Hustle Fund
Hustle Fund isn’t your typical VC, a fact that becomes apparent when reading their own bio: “We were founders before we sold out and became VCs,” they admit. “So we know just how amazing and terrible startup life is. Our team brings real talk and real advice to our relationships.”
Launched by former 500 Startups partners Elizabeth Yin and Eric Bahn in 2018, Hustle Fund aims to support founders with workable ideas rather than impressive CVs or degrees, investing in early-stage startups throughout the US, Canada and Southeast Asia. Though not exclusively focused on Web3, the company has made some notable investments in blockchain projects including in asset management platform DwellFi earlier this year.
Blockchain Founders Fund
Blockchain Founders Fund does exactly what you’d expect it to do: fund blockchain founders. Based, like several others on this list, in Singapore, the early-stage VC was formed in 2018 and has carved out a reputation as one of the industry’s most active investors having financed over 100 startups at the pre-seed and seed stages.
Last year, the fund achieved its biggest milestone to date when it closed its largest ever fund to the tune of $75 million, attracting participation from the likes of Polygon, Ripple and NEO Global Capital (NGC). It shows no signs of slowing down.
Heartcore Web3
Confusingly, Heartcore Web3 shares its name with one of Europe’s top tech-focused VCs (which also launched a web3 fund last year, even more confusingly) – hence the inclusion of Web3 in its name. In any case, this crypto-native firm specializes in making investments in protocols and their tokens, with a focus on the application layer.
An OG investor having first participated in the Ethereum ICO way back in 2014, Heartcore Web3 has since invested in a raft of projects including DeFi protocols, DePINs, privacy solutions, and NFTs.
Well, there you have it: ten crypto VCs you need to be watching if you’ve any interest in monitoring the temperature of the blockchain world. You’re welcome.
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About The Author
Gregory, a digital nomad hailing from Poland, is not only a financial analyst but also a valuable contributor to various online magazines. With a wealth of experience in the financial industry, his insights and expertise have earned him recognition in numerous publications. Utilising his spare time effectively, Gregory is currently dedicated to writing a book about cryptocurrency and blockchain.
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Gregory, a digital nomad hailing from Poland, is not only a financial analyst but also a valuable contributor to various online magazines. With a wealth of experience in the financial industry, his insights and expertise have earned him recognition in numerous publications. Utilising his spare time effectively, Gregory is currently dedicated to writing a book about cryptocurrency and blockchain.
