There is no doubt that the business of blockchain technology is just beginning to flourish. Despite the great promises the new industry is showing, a lot of people still can’t grasp its bold idea. This issue has prompted different venture capital firms to support blockchain-based companies.
The investments that were made really helped the blockchain technology industry to grow even more. It was even reported that the total amount that was seeded in blockchain companies this year grew by 45%.
Venture capitals played a large part in the success of many blockchain-based companies – be it the well-established ones or the startups. The following companies are some of the leaders when it comes to investing. Their deals and ideas have also impacted industries like bitcoin.
Union Square Ventures
Union Square Ventures, sometimes known as USV, was established in 2003. The New York-based company focuses on growth capital, late stage, financing early stage, and startup firms. The Managing Partner of USV is Brad Burnham. And the company has an estimated total funding of $1.1B in five rounds.
Over the years, the New York-based firm has made investments in only three blockchain and bitcoin companies.
- OpenBazaar – It is an open source decentralized marketplace for online trading and peer-to-peer e-commerce using bitcoins.
- Coinbase – It is a digital exchange and wallet platform that lets consumers and merchants purchase and sell cryptocurrency including bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin.
- Blockstack – It creates a decentralized internet platform letting users store data and even calendar appointments in their own cloud sites, addressing the centralization of internet applications.
Digital Currency Group
Founded in 2015, Digital Currency Group (DCG) seeds and incubates blockchain and bitcoin technology-related companies. The startup investment firm is located in New York, where Barry Silbert is the founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Silbert is known as one of the most active investors because he and his company backed firms both in the US and internationally such as Mexico, South Korea, Japan, and Latin America.
Out of its portfolio of 35 companies are three major blockchain firms:
- Circle – It is a peer-to-peer payments technology company that created Circle Pay, an app that lets users send and receive traditional money as well as virtual money.
- Blockstream – It creates and runs an online blockchain-based platform that lets users transact bitcoin currencies.
- Coinbase – It allows users to buy and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin, as well as store digital currency in a virtual wallet.
Wicklow Capital
The Chicago-based principal investment company is considered to be one of the world’s biggest leading financial innovators and market makers. Wicklow Capital was established in 2014 and it focuses in late-stage venture investments.
Wicklow Capital has seven lead investments out of 21 – Omniex, Loop Commerce, B2C2 Ltd., Symbiont, Trucker Path, Tipalti, and SportsLock.
Andreessen Horowitz
Andreessen Horowitz is a California-based company that aims to invest in early stage entrepreneurs building firms. The venture capital firm founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz was only established in 2009, but has already made successful investments since.
The privately-held company funded one of the biggest firms, Axoni. It gives blockchain infrastructure solutions for capital markets and financial institutions. OpenBazaar and Coinbase are also part of Andreessen Horowitz’s investment funding.
Blockchain Capital
Blockchain Capital is a venture fund investing company. The California-based company is exclusive in block chain that enables technology firms. Blockchain Capital was founded in 2013 by Bart Stephens and Bradford Stephens.
It has a projected total funding of $82.7M in four rounds. It also helped fund companies like Circle, Coinbase, and Blockstream.
Draper Associates
Draper Associates is a venture capital company that seeds media, cloud, mobile, gaming, Software as a Service (SaaS), Internet of Things (IoT) and finance firms. Founded by Tim Draper, the company has been in the industry of investing since 1985 and raised a total funding of $190M in 2015.
The California-based company funded the following firms:
- BitPesa – It is a bitcoin trading and payment platform enabling users to sell and purchase local currencies through bitcoin.
- Wyre – It is a financial technology firm that creates and delivers cross-border payments platform, letting other companies to send funds on an international platform.
- Funderbeam – It provides a suite of online tools for startup analysis and discovery, allowing users to trade and invest in different startups.
Pantera Capital
Established in 2003, Pantera Capital Management LP focuses on investing in different digital currencies like bitcoin and other companies. It is located in San Francisco, California where Dan Morehead is the Founder and CEO.
The company accomplished many great things like venturing in companies, mostly related to blockchain tech, crypto assets, and digital currency, such as Circle, ChangeTip, and Korbit.
- ChangeTip – It is an online tipping platform that lets users receive and send bitcoin tips on social media.
- Korbit – It is a bitcoin trading platform, allowing businesses and individuals to trade, transact, and analyze different digital currencies.
RRE Ventures
The New York-based company was founded in 1994 by James D. Robinson III and James D. Robinson IV and since then, it was able to fund many successful firms. RRE Ventures focuses on seeding internet, mobile, software, technology, and financial services companies.
Adam Ludwin, CEO, and Stuart J. Ellman, Managing Partner, work well together to make things going, serving as key elements in choosing noteworthy firms for investments.
- Gem – It is an application program interface platform that incorporates bitcoin into services and applications for developers.
- Abra – It is a mobile-based application that allows users services like peer-to-peer money transfer, payments, and even remittances.
- Case Wallet – It is a multi-signature hardware bitcoin wallet, offering safe blockchain transactions for individuals and enterprises.
500 Startups
500 Startups is a California-based venture fund accelerator that gives early-stage incubator programs and seeds funds especially to startups that focuses on technology. Christine Tsai is the CEO of the company, which was established in 2010 by Dave McClure.
500 Startups invested in some blockchain-based firms like Gyft, a firm that creates a mobile application that lets users store, buy, send, and redeem gift cards. It also funded ChangeTip and Digital Currency Council.
Fenbushi Capital
Established in 2015, Fenbushi Capital is a force to be reckoned with. The China-based venture capital firm is the first in the world that aims on developing world class blockchain-enabled companies. The company seeded the following firms:
- Tierion – It is a software firm that creates a blockchain data platform for verifying business processes, file, and data.
- Hashed Health – It is a group of healthcare companies that focus on enhancing blockchain and distributed ledger technologies.
Fenbushi Capital also funded Juzix (previously Juzhen Financials), an early stage venture and is one of china’s top-funded blockchain startups.
FuturePerfect Ventures
Jalak Jobanputra is the Managing Partner of Future Perfect Ventures. The New York-based company is deemed as an early stage venture capital fund that has a global focus. Since its establishment in 2012, FuturePerfect Ventures partners with different entrepreneurs who are humanizing data. It invested in firms like BitPesa, Abra, and Blockstream.
Boost VC
Boost VC is a startup accelerator that was established in 2011. It invests in technology firms and offers them office space and even housing. The startup company is located in San Mateo, California where Adam Draper is the founder and managing director.
Boost VC has an estimated total funding of $35.6M in two rounds, making it one of the most prolific investors in the space. This year, it plans to back 100 bitcoin companies with massive growth potential such as BlockCypher, Reveal, and Align Commerce.
Khosla Ventures
The California-based company aims to fund early-stage computing, silicon technology, internet, mobile, and clean technology sectors. Khosla Ventures was established in 2004 by Vinod Khosla. It has over 1.3 billion in assets at present, and has funded companies such as Panzura and Instacart.
AME Cloud Ventures
Founded in 2012, AME Cloud Ventures focuses on funding technology-based companies. The California-based company is led by Jerry Yang, one of the co-founders of Yahoo! Inc. Three of AME’s best-seeded startups are Blocksteam, Ripple Labs, and BitPay, an online payment processing system for bitcoin.
IDG Capital Partners
IDG Capital Partners is venture capital and private equity firm that invests in early to growth stage companies in the sector of technology. Founded in 1992, Jim Breyer single-handedly brought the Chinese firm into the spotlight by means of backing one of the biggest bitcoin services providers, the Boston-based Circle Internet Financial.
The growth of venture capital-backed deals is still on the rise. With continuous help from these top investors, there is no doubt that the blockchain technology will become the next bold thing.