Top 10 DeFi VC Investors

DeFi has become a hot subject in the last few years and it’s clear that many VCs are looking to dabble in this space. In this post, we showcase the top 10 DeFi venture capital investors.

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Top 10 DeFi Venture Capital Firms

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1. Coinbase Ventures

Coinbase Ventures is an investment arm of Coinbase that aims to invest in early-stage cryptocurrency and blockchain startups. The company was founded in 2018 and is based in San Francisco, California, United States.

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Website: www.ventures.coinbase.com

Founded: 2018

Total fund size: $15M

Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Pre-Seed

Sector: Defi, Blockchain, web3, Crypto

Coinbase Ventures's most notable exits include Animoca Brands, Compound, and BlockFi.

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2. Framework Ventures

They are a team of technologists, researchers and investors who buy assets of, who build for, and who participate in open crypto networks. At its core, Framework is a technology company, building products and services to support the open blockchain networks that they invest in. Framework was started in 2019.

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Website: www.framework.ventures

Founded: 2019

Total fund size: $750M

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3. ParaFi Capital

ParaFi Capital is a blockchain and decentralized finance-focused alternative investment firm. Through a research-intensive, long-term focused investment framework, the company takes a unique multidisciplinary approach to identify untapped opportunities.

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Website: www.parafi.capital

Founded: 2018

ParaFi Capital's most notable exits include Animoca Brands and BlockFi.

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4. Lemniscap

Lemniscap is an early stage investment firm specializing in investments in emerging crypto assets.

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Website: www.lemniscap.com

Founded: 2017

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5. Union Square Ventures

Union Square Ventures is a private equity and venture capital firm focused on early-stage, growth capital, late-stage, and startup financing. The USV portfolio companies create services that have the potential to fundamentally transform important markets.

It exclusively invests in the internet world, focusing on the applications layer of the web, internet services, and web services that create large networks as well as the mobile sector. Most of its invested companies are based in New York, San Francisco, London, or Berlin, and most places in between. It typically makes a starting investment in portfolio companies of $1 million. In certain Series Around cases, the firm may make a starting investment between $2.5 million to $3 million. It typically invests up to $20 million in any single company.

Union Square Ventures was founded in 2003 and is based in New York, United States.

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Website: www.usv.com

Founded: 2003

Total fund size: $2.5B

Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Growth

Sector: Agnostic, Software, Internet, Financial Services, Media and Entertainment, Advertising, Marketplaces, Impact

Investment Geography: United States

Union Square Ventures's most notable exits include Coinbase, Cloudflare, and Twitter.

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6. Pantera Capital

Pantera Capital is an investment firm focused exclusively on Bitcoin, other digital currencies, and companies in the space. The company believes that Bitcoin has the potential to transform the way people use money and that it will do for payments what the Internet has done for communications and commerce.

Until 2014, Pantera focused on global macro hedge fund investments. The firm was founded in 2003 by Dan Morehead, who was a chief financial officer and head of Macro Trading at Tiger Management. The firm has since shifted its investment advisory services to focus exclusively on Bitcoin, other digital currencies, and companies in the space.

Shareholders include Benchmark, Fortress Investment Group, and Ribbit Capital.

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Website: www.panteracapital.com

Founded: 2003

Total fund size: $1B

Stage: Seed, Series A, Pre-Seed, Early Stage, Series B, Series C, Growth

Sector: Blockchain, Crypto, web3

Ticket Size: $ 1M - $ 40M

Investment Geography: Agnostic (Global)

Pantera Capital's most notable exits include Abra, Wyre, and Bitstamp.

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7. Polychain

The emergence of bitcoin and subsequent blockchain technologies has generated a new digital asset class in which scarcity is based on mathematical properties. Through cryptographic verification and game-theoretic equilibrium, blockchain-based digital assets can be created, issued, and transmitted using software. Polychain Capital is committed to exceptional returns for investors through actively managed portfolios of these blockchain assets.

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Website: www.polychain.capital

Founded: 2016

Total fund size: $10M

Stage: Seed, Series A, Pre-Seed, Early Stage, Series B, Series C, Growth

Polychain's most notable exits include Coinbase, Compound, and Kik.

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8. Dragonfly Capital

Dragonfly Capital is an investment banking firm headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. They focus on the specific needs of management and owners of small and middle-market companies. Dragonfly Capital assists business owners seeking liquidity and private companies seeking capital for growth.Dragonfly Capital works with companies in sectors such as Energy, Manufacturing, Business Services, Healthcare Services and Tech-Enabled Services.

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Website: www.dragonflycapital.com

Total fund size: $12M

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9. Galaxy Digital

Galaxy Digital builds stronger communities with simple technology that improves lives and connects people, organizations, and resources. It offers services for non-profits, healthcare organizations, and small businesses. They believe that they can build stronger communities through simple technology that improves lives by connecting people, organizations, and resources.

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Website: www.galaxydigital.com

Founded: 2009

Total fund size: $250K

Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B

Sector: Blockchain, Fintech, Financial Services, Software, IT

Investment Geography: United States, Europe

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10. Alameda Research

Alameda Research is a quantitative cryptocurrency trading firm that provides liquidity in cryptocurrency and digital assets markets. It was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Central and Western, Hong Kong.

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Website: www.alameda-research.com