Led · Series A · Jul 2023

Futureverse develops an AI and metaverse technology stack and a suite of tools that blend Web2 accessibility with Web3 interoperability, including Pass (digital passport), DOT (Dynamic Object Transfer), Swappables and Wearables Engine, DOC (Dynamic Object Creator), and JEN (text-to-music). It has developed The Root Network, a Layer 1 optimized for seamless interoperability across the open metaverse, and maintains one of the largest digital collectible communities. Futureverse is extending its reach through partnerships and IP projects such as the Readyverse collaboration with Warner Bros. Discovery and a branded Reebok Impact AI fashion experience. The company is focused on growing its token ecosystem—ROOT, ASTO (AI protocol), and SYLO (communication/social graph protocol)—as a central part of its platform strategy. Recent strategic activity includes a proposed mutual investment with Animoca Brands involving an equity swap valued at US$5 million and a proposed Futureverse valuation of US$754 million. Future plans emphasize deploying Futureverse’s generative AI assets and interoperability tools across Animoca Brands’ portfolio to scale adoption and developer usage. Futureverse is a platform made up of 11 companies that span gaming studios, web3 payments, and blockchain tooling for brands and builders. The company defines the metaverse as a collection of interoperable applications built on user data and aims to make the underlying blockchain technology invisible to end users. Futureverse builds experiences where users typically don't need to know they are interacting with web3 or NFTs, exemplified by a FIFA Women's World Cup game that runs on blockchain without exposing that layer to players. Co-founders Aaron McDonald (CEO) and Shara Senderoff emphasize practical brand partnerships and client-focused products rather than foregrounding the tech. The company has pursued partnerships with FIFA and F1 to build branded digital platforms and fan experiences. Financially, Futureverse recently completed a $54 million Series A.

Led · Series A · May 2023

Blockworks operates as a cryptocurrency data and research platform serving the crypto industry. The company recently completed a Series A extension that established a $192 million valuation. The extension drew institutional investors including Parafi Capital, Reciprocal Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Advancit Capital and MoonPay, plus individual investments from founders and operators of over 20 crypto projects. The article did not provide information on revenue, user metrics, founding year, location, or specific plans for the new capital.

Led · Series B · Jan 2023

QuickNode is a blockchain deployment platform that provides enterprise-grade node and API infrastructure to web2 and web3 developers. The platform handles over 200 billion API requests monthly and guarantees 99.99% uptime. Its customer base includes Twitter, Adobe, Coinbase, OpenSea, Chainlink, 1inch Network, Dune Analytics and Phantom, and it serves over 50,000 developers. QuickNode supports 16 blockchains (including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Binance Smart Chain, Avalanche and Abritrum) and plans to add another four to five chains by the end of the year. The company reported that revenue rose by over 300% in the third and fourth quarters of 2022. QuickNode aims to expand its technology, team and regional footprint and to grow blockchain adoption with enterprise-grade infrastructure; its long-term goal is to be the “AWS or Azure of blockchain.” Quicknode offers a blockchain infrastructure platform that helps companies scale their blockchain ecosystems and power blockchain applications via elastic APIs, dedicated nodes, developer tools and analytics. The company intends to use the Series A proceeds to grow its services and further expand its product offering. Quicknode graduated from Y Combinator in March 2021 and is led by Dmitry Shklovsky, Manuel Kreutz, Auston Bunsen and Alexander Nabutovsky. It services a community of nearly 20,000 developers and handles more than 2 billion requests per day, with a global multi-cloud presence in 15+ regions across four continents. The platform currently supports ten blockchains, including Ethereum, Bitcoin, Solana, xDai, Matic/Polygon, Binance Smart Chain, Terra, Celo, Fantom and Optimistic Ethereum. Customers range from developers new to blockchain to crypto-native projects such as NFT and wallet providers, as well as large institutions managing billions in crypto assets. QuickNode provides core Web3 infrastructure that enables developers to build and scale blockchain applications. Its platform integrates with six networks — Bitcoin, Ethereum, xDai, Polygon (MATIC), Binance Smart Chain and Optimistic Ethereum — with more planned. The company serves over a billion requests per day and reported more than 1,000% revenue growth in 2020. Co-founded in 2017 and a Y Combinator alumnus, QuickNode counts customers including CoinGecko, DappRadar, Dune Analytics and Rarible. QuickNode plans to use the funding to expand its product line, build out its platform, enter new markets and grow its current team of 10. Leadership frames the company as foundational infrastructure for Web3, analogous to cloud services for Web2.

Participated · Equity · Sep 2022

Doodles is a web3 media and entertainment brand built around a joyful collection of 10,000 NFTs launched in October 2021. The company was co-founded in 2021 by Evan Keast, Jordan Castro, and artist Scott Martin (Burnt Toast) and has attracted a passionate collector community including notable celebrity collectors. Doodles plans to scale growth and monetize its IP globally through ventures in music, culture, and entertainment, and will recruit talent across creative, operations, and blockchain functions. The company said it will fund product development via acquisitions and proprietary technology, media, and collector experiences and will launch several products in the next six months, including a mainstream NFT experience aimed at mass adoption. Leadership updates include Julian Holguin as Chief Executive Officer and Pharrell Williams as Chief Brand Officer, and the board includes founders and investor Katelin Holloway. Financially, Doodles closed a $54M financing at a $704M valuation to support these initiatives.

Participated · Equity · Jun 2022

InfStones provides infrastructure and developer tools to help clients build applications across a number of blockchain platforms, supporting infrastructure for over 50 blockchains including Ethereum, Polygon, Solana and Chainlink. The company serves institutional clients globally, with customers ranging from centralized crypto firms like Binance and Circle to decentralized scaling platforms such as Polygon. InfStones has positioned itself as aiming to be the web3 version of Amazon Web Services to simplify onboarding and multi-chain application development. The company plans to use its latest funding for product development aligned with its roadmap, expansion into new markets, team growth, and to advance web3 adoption. Financially, the raise brings the company’s total funding to $111 million and management says the valuation is “near unicorn-status.” InfStones was founded in 2018. InfStones provides unified blockchain infrastructure—node hosting, public and dedicated API gateways, and node management—aimed at making it easy for exchanges, wallets, custodians, asset managers and analytics providers to build on many chains. The company currently supports tens of thousands of nodes on more than 50 chains, including Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Cardano, Polygon, Polkadot, Solana and Chainlink. It serves a wide variety of institutional clients and positions itself as the “AWS of Web3.” InfStones is launching a front-end user interface and a self-service portal that lets clients deploy nodes within minutes; public APIs (BSC, BSC archival data, Ethereum and NEO) are available today with Cosmos and other chains forthcoming. The company plans to use the new funding to triple its team from 30 to 90 globally distributed employees over the next year and to expand support to more than 100 chains and protocols. Platform advancements and continued technology research and development are also on the agenda. InfStones provides a Platform-as-a-Service for blockchain infrastructure that enables clients to quickly deploy nodes, run validator nodes, and access on-chain data across a wide variety of networks. The platform supports tens of thousands of computing nodes on over 50 chains, including Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Cardano, Polygon, Polkadot, Solana and Chainlink. Institutional clients include digital-asset exchanges, wallets, custodians, fund managers and analytics providers, with named customers such as Binance, Circle, KuCoin, imToken, BitGo and Dune Analytics. Founded in 2018, the core team includes former senior engineers from Google, Oracle and Microsoft and academic leadership such as Dr. Xue Liu; the company has business offices across three countries on two continents. With the new capital, InfStones plans to expand beyond staking into public and dedicated API gateways, enhanced node management services, and a front-end self-service portal. The company recently completed a $10M Series A to support that product and service expansion. InfStones is a Silicon Valley staking startup founded in 2018 that operates full nodes and acts as a block producer for proof-of-stake blockchains. The company aggregates PoS token holders’ votes to participate in block production, receives mining rewards, and distributes those rewards to holders while taking a 10–30% commission depending on the chain. It is currently a block producer for nine PoS chains including EOS, Tron, Cosmos and Tezos, and its EOS node has over 90 million votes, staking more than $450 million worth of EOS. InfStones has a five-person team and plans to use new funding to hire and expand its service to additional PoS networks. Founder and CEO Jonathan Shi, a former Oracle engineer, said the company expects PoS to drive exponential growth in the blockchain industry. DHVC also assisted InfStones in recruiting large EOS holders to use its staking service.