A16z crypto is a $300M venture fund that will invest in crypto companies and protocols. The company's fund is designed to include features of traditional venture capital, updated to the modern crypto world.

a16z crypto

Variant is a web3-focused early-stage fund. According to the firm, the next iteration of the internet would turn consumers into owners. Variant was established in 2020 in New York, United States.

Variant

Nascent invests in early-stage teams with a focus on missionary founders who are building category-defining companies and protocols It was founded in 2020.

Nascent

Spark Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in exceptional products and the creative individuals behind them. Known for embracing risk and a unique approach, Spark Capital has backed companies like Twitter, Discord, Anthropic, Cruise, Niantic, Oculus, Warby Parker, and Tumblr. Recognizing that there are no set playbooks or formulas for success, the firm supports founders in achieving success on their own terms. Spark Capital invests across all sectors and stages, operating out of San Francisco, Boston, and New York City.

Spark Capital

Alven Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm with over $500 million under management. Alven backs primarily ambitious French and French-related entrepreneurs in the digital technology space. Alven’s sectors of interest include notably AI, data management platforms, Saas, security solutions, as well as disruptive consumer models with a particular focus on marketplaces and web brands.

Alven

XAnge is a Franco-German team of venture capital investors that manages €450 million and invests in digital, deeptech, and impact startups. It is the innovation brand of the Siparex group, a major player in French private equity. XAnge is a key European investor in early-stage startups and is looking for game-changing startups and entrepreneurs who rock the code[s]. The Paris, Ile-de-France-located company was founded in 2004.

XAnge

TLC is a co-investment club for Tech CEOs (and Tech Leaders) with significant track records. Their club is by invitation only, truly global, and reserved to those who can add value beyond just investing cash. Why? Because they believe that, put simply, experienced and successful tech CEOs make outstanding investors, particularly in the early/mid stages of development. They know the industry inside out, can pick winners early on and can help them take off way more rapidly and efficiently than most early stage investors today.   A new investor class. TLC is not fund managers, do not hold or manage others' investment funds or provide any form of Asset Management. TLC is a true network of peers, helping each other co-invest, collaborate and grow companies together.   As such, they TLC is a new and rather unique investment class, which they trust is most beneficial to the entire eco-system. TLC gladly co-invests outside of their network when relevant, working with many of the established investmet funds and less traditional investors too in need of active help with their portfolio companies.   TLC connects their investments to their exclusive, global, technology leaders community Hot Topics that counts over 6,000 CEOs, investors and senior executives. TLC brings everybody together through a series of global events, a weekly publication and their online group.

Project A is an early-stage venture capital firm, combining financial and operational support for technology companies. In addition to $1bn in assets under management, Project A provides its portfolio companies with a wide range of operational support services. This includes more than 100 experts from key areas such as software engineering, business intelligence, marketing, and recruiting. The portfolio includes companies such as Trade Republic, sennder, KRY, Catawiki, WorldRemit, Spryker, and Voi.

Project A Ventures

Daphni is a VC as a platform that invests in user-oriented startups with European DNA and strong international ambition. The company is supported by daphnipolis, a closely-knit community of 200+ entrepreneurs, executives, academics, artists and advisors, and a digital platform to ensure both efficiency and full transparency. The firm as established in 2015 and is based in Paris, France.

Daphni

Cherry Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm led by a team of entrepreneurs with experience building fast-scaling companies such as Zalando and Spotify. The firm backs Europe's boldest founders, usually as their first institutional investor, and supports them in everything from their go-to-market strategy and the scaling of their businesses. Cherry Ventures has previously invested in the seed stage of over 50 companies across Europe, including FlixBus, Auto1 Group, Infarm, Rows, Forto, and TourRadar. Cherry Ventures is based in Berlin and invests across Europe with operations in London, Paris, and Stockholm.

Cherry Ventures

Nima Capital is a single-family office. They take a global approach to identifying companies with first mover, winner-take-all characteristics that use technology to disrupt large industries around the world.

Nima Capital

Semantic Ventures is a venture capital fund that invests in open markets and networks. It was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in London, England.

Semantic Ventures

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

Coinbase Ventures

Boutique investment bank providing independent M&A and private capital advisory services to TMT and FinTech clients

GCR Partners

Stake Capital provide highly available and secure blockchain validation services for all the leading proof-of-stake networks.

Stake Capital Group

Cryptoast is a media company that offers accurate news online on blockchain technology, crypto assets, bitcoin, and emerging fintech trends.

Cryptoast

Standard Crypto is a venture capital firm that combines deep technical expertise, elite company-building experience, and a decade-long track record in crypto to partner early with decentralized protocols and blockchain-focused companies.  Investments listed are not representative of all Standard Crypto investments and are not to be considered a complete list of all investments made by Standard Crypto.

Standard Crypto

Fasanara Capital is an independent, owner-managed alternative asset management company authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The firm was founded in 2011 by Francesco Filia and is headquartered in London, England, United Kingdom.

Fasanara Capital

AngelDAO operates as a decentralized autonomous organization.

AngelDAO

Mechanism Capital is an investment firm that invests in the cryptocurrency industry with a focus on decentralized finance or DeFi.

Mechanism Capital

Daedalus Angel Syndicate is a blockchain-focused angel collective.

Daedalus Angel Syndicate

Faculty Capital is a value-driven venture capital firm focused on innovative blockchain projects.

Faculty Capital

Atka Capital invest in cryptocurrency and blockchain sectors.

Atka Capital

Re7 Capital

Spaceship is a global group of crypto natives, founders, builders, and investors. We aim to invest in, support, and $FUEL blockchain start-ups, emerging crypto networks, and decentralized communities.

Spaceship

Templiers

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.

Pantera Capital

Morpho Labs

Morpho is an on-chain peer-to-peer layer on top of lending pools. Rates are seamlessly improved for borrowers and lenders while preserving the same guarantees. Morpho combines the efficiency of P2P with the liquidity of lending pools. Users enjoy an improved APY while maintaining the pool’s flexibility

Morpho Labs is an open-source, decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that develops an on-chain peer-to-peer layer that enables users to borrow and lend cryptocurrencies. The platform combines P2P lending with the liquidity of lending pools in the form of structured vaults. This enables users to receive an improved APY while maintaining the pool’s flexibility. These structured vaults are designed and curated by several institutional risk managers. It's also based on a peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange model built on lending protocols such as Aave and Compound.&nbsp;

Disrupting the traditional financial system using blockchain

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

Greg Clayman on LinkedIn: Started a new engagement with Morpho Labs today and super excited to be…

Morpho Labs is an open-source, decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that develops an on-chain peer-to-peer layer that enables users to borrow and lend cryptocurrencies. The platform combines P2P lending with the liquidity of lending pools in the form of structured vaults. This enables users to receive an improved APY while maintaining the pool’s flexibility. These structured vaults are designed and curated by several institutional risk managers. It's also based on a peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange model built on lending protocols such as Aave and Compound.&nbsp;Moreover, the protocol also enables developers and institutions to build decentralized applications and vaults on top of its base layer named Morpho Blue and integrate it into their own risk and compliance management systems.Key customers and partnershipsIn February 2024, Morpho announced that it had selected Gauntlet, a blockchain research firm, to design and manage risk for its lending vaults. As of May 2024, the company’s institutional risk managers included Re7 Capital, Steakhouse, and B.Protocol (in addition to Gauntlet).&nbsp;Funding and financials In July 2022, Morpho Labs <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11569">raised USD 18 million</a> in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz to further develop its product. The company also went on to receive an undisclosed investment from Pantera Capital in February 2024.

MakerDAO is a DAO (governed through the MKR token) that manages the Sky protocol (formerly known as Maker).&nbsp;Developed on the Ethereum blockchain, the protocol allows users to place their funds (through cryptocurrency) as collateral in exchange for its stablecoin DAI, which is pegged to the USD. DAI can be used like any other cryptocurrency and even as savings since holders of DAI are entitled to a return based on the DAI Savings Rate (DSR). The DSR is determined by members of the DAO using a mix of public and proprietary market data.Sky offers access to investing and borrowing DAI through the Oasis app which was developed by some of the creators of protocol. In addition, the protocol is available for developers of DeFi apps who can build apps to facilitate earning, investing, and borrowing DAI. As of May 2024, Sky had integrated with over 400 applications ranging from payment systems to gaming platforms. It generates revenue through stability fees (akin to interest payment on borrowed DAI) and liquidation fees which is an additional charge that occurs when the value of the submitted collateral falls below a set liquidation amount.&nbsp;In April 2022, the protocol announced that it was bridging to StarkNet, a reportedly cheaper and faster zero-knowledge (ZK) overlay chain built by StarkWare. Along with its expansion on Ethereum, the DAO had planned to move toward a multi-chain offering with this rebuild. It planned to roll out this offering in four phases, beginning with a simple bridge between the main blockchain and StarkNet’s Layer 2.&nbsp;In February 2023, the company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16269?industryIds=64">launched a new lending platform</a> named Spark Protocol, to enable users to borrow, lend, and stake DAI, the protocol’s stablecoin. The platform, which is a fork of Aave's version 3 (v3), will be built by Phoenix Labs, a research and development company formed by the DAO. Additionally, the company also announced the deployment of etherDAI, a liquid staking derivative for Ethereum that will be pegged to the value of ETH. Furthermore, in March, the protocol went on to<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17322"> approve several new proposals </a>that make changes to both its governance structure and the investment of its treasury. These changes divide the DAO’s current structure into smaller self-governed and self-sustained units named SubDAOs, which will also have their own tokens in the MakerDAO ecosystem. Moreover, the proposal also planned to increase the protocol’s revenues by investing a part of its reserves (worth USD 7 billion) into real-world assets and money-market funds.&nbsp;The platform outlined its plans for a major update (named Endgame) in May 2023. The launch was proposed to take place in five phases and will ultimately lead to the creation of a new blockchain. The road map is as follows: 1) launching new branding and website as well as upgraded versions of Dai and MKR tokens; 2) launching six Maker SubDAOs, specializing in user acquisition, decentralized frontends, and collateral allocation; 3) introducing new AI tools to assist governance, including tools for summarizing, interpreting, and generating governance proposals; 4) enabling rewards for governance participation; and 5) deploying a new blockchain to house backend logic for SubDAO tokenomics and governance security. The first phase of the update is expected to be rolled out in the summer of 2024.&nbsp;In August 2024, the protocol followed through with the first phase of its plans by <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32993">rebranding itself under the new name "Sky"</a>, and launching new versions of DAI and MKR tokens named the USDS and SKY.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsIn September 2024, Sky<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33252"> partnered with Aave Labs</a>, to launch the “Sky Aave Force” initiative. The initiative featured key proposals such as integrating the newly launched USDS and sUSDS stablecoins on Aave’s V3 protocol, introducing an incentive program for sUSDS suppliers and deploying a direct deposit module for USDS into the Aave Lido Market. Additionally, the partnership will enable the companies to distribute SPK tokens, the native token of Sky’s lending protocol Spark, to create a market for sUSDS on Aave. Collectively, these initiatives enable users to earn yields on their sUSDS deposits from the revenues generated by Sky’s protocol and mint USDS directly on Aave without meeting the usual collateral requirements.

MakerDAO

Founded by former executives of Qualcomm, Solana Labs is the developer of the Solana blockchain, which uses the native cryptocurrency SOL. The company enables developers to create decentralized applications in its blockchain and is capable of carrying out 50,000 transactions per second (TPS) with a theoretical upper limit of 710,000 TPS for the architecture. As of May 2024, the blockchain averaged around 2,400 TPS. This is in contrast to Ethereum’s average of between 13 to 15 TPS. In addition to transaction speed, Solana also has other advantages such as lower transaction fees and improved scalability, given its proof-of-stake consensus mechanism and underlying architecture. The mechanism also enables users to stake their SOL and earn yields for validating the network. Solana provides the ability to create specialized tooling and programming functionality to tokens through <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25910">Token Extensions</a>. This allows developers and businesses to establish rules for tokens, such as dictating their functionality and determining their holders, as well as embed features like whitelisting, automatic transfer fees, and confidentiality provisions for transfers.Solana also provides guides and a content aggregator website for developers to discover tools to create dApps on its blockchain. As of May 2024, more than 440 dApps were created on Solana, ranging across use cases such as DeFi, NFTs, and gaming. It also <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18094">launched a ChatGPT </a>(a chatbot built on OpenAI's GPT model) plugin to allow developers and users to query the blockchain for on-chain data. The plugin works through the ChatGPT interface and allows users to perform various tasks such as checking wallet balances, transferring tokens, and purchasing NFTs.Key customers and partnershipsWeb browser developer Opera partnered with Solana in December 2021 to integrate the blockchain and create a built-in crypto wallet onto the Opera browser to improve accessibility to dApps hosted on the blockchain.As of May 2024, the company served several enterprise clients such as Shopify, Asics, Helio, and Tiplink.Funding and financialsThe total value locked (TVL) in DeFi projects across the Solana blockchain amounted to USD 4 billion as of May 2024. The company raised USD 314 million through an initial coin offering (ICO) of SOL. The ICO was co-led by Polychain Capital and Andreessen Horowitz. The funding was to be used to create a venture investing arm, a trading desk, and support the development of new applications in its blockchain.

Solana

Swiss-based Eidoo is a developer of a wallet that supports cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, along with tokens such as DAI, MKR, AAVE, and UNI, among others. In addition, Eidoo provides a DeFi marketplace that integrates with its wallet, allowing users to trade any tokens that they hold. Eidoo also offers a debit card that allows the conversion of digital assets into fiat currencies, such as the GBP and EURO, and spending or even withdrawing cash from ATMs.Eidoo began with the proprietary token EDO, which it also used to raise USD 27.9 million in an initial coin offering (ICO) in 2017. The token was then upgraded following its merger with blockchain oracle provider Provable Things to establish pNetwork, the infrastructure that facilitates cross-chain interactions between multiple decentralized apps, governed by the token PNT. To obtain an Eidoo debit card, users are required to stake PNT ranging from 20 to 200,000 for various service tiers.Eidoo had several applications such as virtual account numbers to deposit money and obtain a tokenized representation of their deposit as well as features to buy, hold, and trade NFTs in the roadmap as of December 2021.

Eidoo

Synthetix is a DAO (governed by holders of its native token SNX) that offers a platform on which users can trade and vote on the creation of on-chain synthetic assets, which are derivatives based on real-world assets. These synthetic assets enable traders to capture the price movements of assets such as cryptocurrencies, fiat currencies, stocks, and commodities, among others, with zero slippage. The protocol allows users to stake SNX as collateral for the debt pool and earn weekly rewards. As of April 2022, Synthetix had USD 642 million in total value locked (TVL).Additionally, Synthetix also offers the opportunity for developers to build on top of the platform to tap into its liquidity as well as develop decentralized perpetual futures, options markets, deal coordination markets, and more. As of December 2021, the protocol served large DeFi platforms including 1inch, Curve Finance, Yearn Finance, and Paraswap.In February 2023, Synthetix <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16609?industryIds=64">deployed version 3 (v3) of its platform </a>on the Ethereum mainnet. V3 reportedly offers more efficient architecture that enables developers to create products that offer a liquid market for any financial derivative, as well as more complex decentralized applications. Additionally, the solution also offers staking and differentiated debt pools, to enable stakers to earn fees from supplying collateral to specific asset pools. The company went on to deploy its protocol on Base, an Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain developed by Coinbase, in April 2024. Moreover, the company announced plans to launch a new perpetual futures exchange named Infinex in the following months.Funding and financialsIn March 2023, Synthetix <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17267">received an investment of USD 20 million </a>from DWF Labs, a Web3 venture capital company. Synthetix plans to use this investment to drive volume for its protocol across both centralized and decentralized exchanges and invest in product development.

Synthetix

Compound is an open-source lending protocol built on Ethereum that allows developers to build DeFi applications for functions such as deposits and lending. Compound offers adjusted money market interest rates based on asset-specific supply and demand and supports a number of Ethereum-based assets for users to take collateralized loans and lock-up assets without borrowing. Locked assets are automatically liquidated if an independent oracle determines that the price has dropped too low. Additionally, since assets are stored in a shared pool, even users with liquidated collateral can claim tokens if they are able to repay the general pool. Compound also <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13038">offers borrowing services</a> for institutional clients that allow them to borrow USD or USDC at a fixed annual percentage rate of 6% using cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ether as collateral, with a loan-to-value of 90%.As of April 2024, Compound had a total value locked (TVL) of USD 2.3 billion. The protocol is governed by its native-token COMP, which along with a variety of other digital assets that are a part of the Compound ecosystem, are supported by Coinbase Custody, a crypto asset custodian. In August 2022, Compound launched a version of its protocol named “Compound III” which features a single borrowable asset. Users can supply collateral that can never be withdrawn by other users (except during liquidation) and borrow USDC.In May 2022, Compound<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10267"> received a B- credit rating from S&amp;P Global Ratings</a> on its enterprise credit facility which offers 4% annually on deposits of the stablecoin USDC. Notably, Compound claims that this is the first time an "institutional DeFi" product has been scored by a major credit rating agency.Funding and financialsCompound’s last funding round was in November 2019 where it raised USD 25 million in a Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz’s a16z crypto fund to help the company further decentralize the protocol by enabling crypto exchanges and custodians such as Coinbase to maintain the protocol going forward.

Compound

Organizations and protocols that allow individuals to lend their crypto assets and take out collateralized or uncollateralized loans from to/from these projects

Organizations that allow individuals to invest in tokenized financial and real assets

Organizations that provide fully decentralized insurance products

Organizations that apply NFTs across areas of finance such as documentation and non-fractionalized ownership records for assets

Decentralized exchanges that help connect buyers and sellers of DeFi tokens without the need to rely on an intermediary

Organizations that provide digital wallets for users to take custody of DeFi tokens

Blockchains and related protocols that allow developers to build DeFi apps

All companies within this industry are either blockchain-based platforms or offer blockchain-centric services

Promotes financial inclusivity, allowing those that won't traditionally have access to credit to raise funds

Companies with the infrastructure segment offer solutions for users to build decentralized applications

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 Morpho, a Decentralized Finance (DeFi) lending protocol, has secured USD 50 million in a private token sale. The funding round was led by Ribbit Capital and included participation from a16z crypto, Coinbase Ventures, Variant, Pantera, Brevan Howard, BlockTower, and Kraken Ventures, among others.
 The open-source decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), Morpho Labs, is responsible for developing an on-chain peer-to-peer layer that facilitates users in borrowing and lending cryptocurrencies. It combines peer-to-peer (P2P) lending with liquidity from lending pools in a unique structure called vaults. This allows users to earn higher Annual Percentage Yield (APY) while maintaining the flexibility of the pool. These structured vaults are curated and designed by many professional risk managers. Besides, they are based on a P2P exchange model built on existing lending protocols such as Aave and Compound.

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Morpho Labs

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