Can't find a suitable Web3 project?
Can’t find high-quality Web3 projects?
It’s worth taking a look at the new goals of the leading Web3 investment institutions. After all, they make money based on their own abilities, and they make a lot of money.
In this article, Portal Labs will review the top ten well-known Web3 investment institutions and their representative cases.
*The ranking in this article is not in any particular order and is presented only in alphabetical order.
a16z Cr ypto
a16z, formerly known as Andreessen Horowitz , has set up a16z Crypto, which has long focused on Web3 project investment. a16z Crypto emphasizes long-term value, and its investment focuses on infrastructure, exchanges and core modules of the Web3 ecosystem. They not only provide financial support, but also help projects grow through policy influence and ecosystem construction.
Representative investment cases
OpenSea
Benefiting from the rapid development of the NFT market, OpenSea, as one of the first NFT trading platforms, has become one of the world's largest NFT trading markets.
Investment time: Series A and Series B in 2021
Highest valuation: 2022, over $13 billion
Uniswap
Uniswap is the leader in the decentralized exchange (DEX) field, providing liquidity support for the DeFi ecosystem.
Investment time: Series A in 2020 and Series B in 2022
Highest valuation: 2021, over $8.2 billion
Animoca Brands
Animoca Brands is one of the most important investment institutions in the Web3 game and NFT ecosystem, focusing on GameFi, the metaverse, and the construction of digital asset infrastructure. The institution not only invests directly, but also supports a large number of Web3 game and NFT projects through its ecosystem (such as The Sandbox).
Representative investment cases
Yuga Labs
Yuga Labs is the developer of BAYC NFT. With BAYC and its ecosystem (such as the Otherside metaverse), it has become a leading brand in the Web3 field.
Investment time: Seed round in 2022
Peak valuation: 2022, about $4 billion
TON
The Open Network (TON) is a fully decentralized Layer 1 blockchain designed by Telegram to provide an efficient and secure blockchain network.
Investment time: OTC round in 2023
Highest valuation: 2024, over $40 billion
Binance Labs
As an investment department of Binance, Binance Labs' strategy is mainly centered around the development of the BNB chain ecosystem, while also focusing on multiple tracks such as GameFi, DeFi, and infrastructure. Since Binance itself is one of the largest exchanges in the world, Binance Labs also tends to invest in projects that can enhance its exchange ecosystem and increase the value of the BNB ecosystem.
Representative investment cases
Axie Infinity
Axie Infinity is a benchmark project in the GameFi field, which has set off a craze for the Play-to-Earn ( P2E ) model. In 2021, Axie attracted a large number of users and funds.
Investment time: 2022
Highest valuation: 2021, over $40 billion
CoinMarketCap
CoinMarketCap is a crypto asset price tracking website that aims to make cryptocurrencies discoverable and efficient worldwide, providing retail users with unbiased, high-quality, and accurate information so they can draw their own informed conclusions.
Investment time: M&A round in 2020
Highest valuation: No valuation yet
Coinbase Ventures
As the investment arm of Coinbase Exchange, Coinbase Ventures' main strategy is to build a cryptocurrency trading ecosystem. Its investments cover DeFi, infrastructure, public chains, NFT markets and other fields, and it is particularly inclined to projects that can promote Coinbase's trading volume or increase user stickiness. The organization mostly invests in early rounds and uses Coinbase platform resources to promote project development.
Representative investment cases
Puffer Finance
Puffer is a decentralized native Liquid Re-Staking Protocol (nLRP) built on EigenLayer. Its core mission is to maintain the "trusted neutrality" of Ethereum and enhance and maintain the decentralization of Ethereum.
Investment time: Series A in 2024
Peak valuation: 2024, about $950 million
zkLink
zkLink is a trustless, permissionless, and non-custodial interoperability protocol designed to connect different blockchains, eliminate differences between different tokens, and solve the problem of liquidity silos formed on isolated chains.
Investment time: 2023 strategic round
Peak valuation: 2024, about $500 million
Delphi Digital
Delphi Digital is known for its in-depth research and data-driven investment strategies. Unlike other traditional venture capital firms, Delphi Digital is both an investment research institution and an investment company. It makes high-precision investments only after in-depth research on DeFi, NFT and Layer2 tracks. In addition, they will also provide strategic support such as token economic model optimization and protocol design for the invested projects.
Representative investment cases
Lido
Lido is the leading protocol for Ethereum liquidity staking, allowing users to participate in ETH staking without sacrificing liquidity while obtaining stETH tokens.
Investment time: Early round in 2021
Peak valuation: 2022, about $2 billion
Yield Guild Games
YGG is a decentralized gaming guild that allows players to share NFT assets through DAO and profit together in the Play-to-Earn ecosystem.
Investment time: Seed round in 2021
Peak valuation: 2021, about $500 million
Digital Currency Group (DCG)
DCG is one of the most influential crypto investment groups in the world, focusing on infrastructure, trading platforms, payment networks and Web3 ecology. It has multiple subsidiaries such as Grayscale , Genesis Trading and CoinDesk, and has invested in a large number of industry leading projects in the early stages.
Representative investment cases
Ondo Finance
Ondo Finance is committed to improving the security, efficiency, and accessibility of financial services through institutional-grade on-chain products. It also focuses on incubating protocols that can support both tokenized real-world assets and traditional cryptocurrencies.
Investment time: Seed round in 2021
Peak valuation: 2024, about $2 billion
Ripple
Ripple provides instant interbank payments and cross-border settlement solutions through XRP tokens and the RippleNet network.
Investment time: Angel round in 2013 and Series A in 2015
Peak valuation: 2018, about $30 billion
Framework Ventures
Framework Ventures is one of the earliest institutions in the industry to enter the DeFi track, and is well-known for its heavy investments in DeFi infrastructure and emerging NFT projects. The institution not only invests, but also actively participates in project governance and provides industry resources to help the invested projects grow.
Representative investment cases
DODO
DODO is a decentralized trading platform that uses an innovative proactive market maker (PMM) algorithm to provide efficient on-chain liquidity.
Investment time: Seed round and private placement in 2020
Peak valuation: 2021, about $6 billion
Aave
Aave is a well-known project in the decentralized lending market, providing permissionless lending and introducing an innovative Flash Loans mechanism.
Investment time: OTC round in 2020
Peak valuation: 2021, about $6 billion
HongShan
HongShan (Sequoia China, formerly known as Sequoia Capital China)'s investment style tends to be "user scale growth" projects, favoring projects that can attract a large number of users and generate strong network effects.
Representative investment cases
CertiK
CertiK is a blockchain security company founded in 2018 that mathematically verifies the security of smart contracts through a combination of formal verification and manual verification.
Investment time: B2 round in 2021 and 2022
Peak valuation: 2022, about $2 billion
Amber Group
Amber Group is a digital asset platform that provides a full range of digital asset services including investment, financing and trading to more than 1,000 institutional clients and a growing number of individual investors worldwide.
Investment time: B1 round in 2022
Peak valuation: 2022, about $3 billion
Pantera Capital
Pantera Capital is one of the earliest venture capital funds in the crypto industry, focusing on early-stage public chains, DeFi, payment networks, and infrastructure investments. The institution is good at capturing market cycles, often entering the market in large numbers during bear markets and earning high returns in bull markets. Pantera Capital is known for its high-risk, high-return investment strategy and manages multiple crypto hedge funds and venture capital funds.
Representative investment cases
Circle
Circle is a global financial technology company that issues USD Coin (USDC) and helps businesses of all sizes harness the power of digital currencies and public blockchains for payments, commerce and financial applications around the world.
Investment time: Series B in 2014 and Series E in 2018
Peak valuation: 2022, about $9 billion
Near Protocol
Near Protocol is a high-performance L1 blockchain that provides fast transaction confirmation and low-cost transactions, attracting a large number of Web3 developers.
Investment period: 2019 and 2020 early rounds
Peak valuation: 2022, about $2 billion
Paradigm
Paradigm focuses on technological innovation and prefers to bet on Layer2, DeFi and protocol layer construction. They often enter the market in large numbers during market downturns, waiting for market returns after technological breakthroughs.
Representative investment cases
Optimism
Optimism is one of Ethereum's Layer 2 expansion solutions, which aims to reduce transaction fees and increase throughput.
Investment time: Seed round in 2020 and Series B round in 2022
Peak valuation: 2022, about $1.8 billion
Friend.tech
Friend.tech is a Web3 social app that allows users to tokenize their own social networks. Purchasing a share of someone allows the owner to exchange private messages with them.
Investment time: Seed round in 2023
Highest estimate: 2024, about $40 million
