Participated · Seed · Aug 2026

Vangrid develops a decentralised spatial intelligence network that activates cameras and sensors on smartphones to generate continuously updated, verified spatial data. The platform emphasizes privacy-first capture with on-device blurring of faces and license plates and onchain verification for provenance before data reaches its enterprise spatial API. Vangrid positions itself between legacy fleet-based mapping and unverified open crowdsourcing by compensating contributors and providing enterprise-grade, provenance-tracked data. Its target customers include robotics, autonomous systems, and defence organisations, and the company has signed MOUs with strategic data partners while reporting live transactions on the platform. Vangrid raised $9 million in seed funding to bootstrap network density, expand its edge-computation pipeline, and deepen enterprise partnerships.

Participated · Seed · Aug 2026

Legion builds a fundraising platform that runs compliant token sales and assigns each user a Legion Score derived from their on-chain history. The Legion Score lets projects prioritize participants based on merit and on-chain contribution rather than transaction speed or bots. The company has run token sales in partnership with exchanges including Kraken and Bybit. Notable sales on the platform include Squid, which reached a $2.2M hard cap with over $26M committed, and Solstice Finance, which raised roughly $362K. The team is led by co-founders Fabrizio and Matty, with Evgeniy leading operations. Legion has raised $7M to date across a $2M seed and a $5M extended seed backed by institutional and crypto industry investors.

Led · Equity · Aug 2025

Trump Media operates the social platforms Truth Social and Truth+ and is integrating the Cronos cryptocurrency and digital wallet solutions into those services. Users will be able to earn Cronos rewards and pay for services and subscriptions with the token. As part of the agreement, Trump Media is purchasing Cronos for about $105 million and plans to run its own validator node to support the Cronos network. Crypto.com is investing $50 million in Trump Media and the firms will form Trump Media Group CRO Strategy to build a digital treasury of Cronos. The broader transaction is described as being worth $6.42 billion and is positioned as an early step to use Cronos more broadly in social media and streaming.

Participated · Equity · Aug 2025

Hemi offers a programmability layer for Bitcoin via the Hemi Virtual Machine (hVM), a full Bitcoin node embedded inside an Ethereum Virtual Machine that enables DeFi, restaking, and cross-chain composability. The protocol positions itself as a supernetwork that fuses Bitcoin's security with Ethereum-style developer flexibility and supports cross-chain 'Tunnels' for interoperability. Hemi is preparing for a token generation event (TGE) and has recently unveiled $HEMI tokenomics to support that launch. The company reports over $1.2 billion in total value locked on its network, more than 100,000 verified users, and a community exceeding 400,000 members. Hemi is backed by a network of over 70 ecosystem partners, including Sushi, LayerZero, MetaMask, and Redstone, and is led by co-founders Jeff Garzik, Maxwell Sanchez, and Matthew Roszak. The recent funding will be used to accelerate ecosystem growth and further enable Bitcoin-based decentralized finance. Hemi Labs is developing the Hemi Network, a modular blockchain powered by Bitcoin and Ethereum that aims to unlock new programmability and cross-chain capabilities. Core components include the Hemi Virtual Machine (hVM) that embeds a full Bitcoin node within an EVM, the Hemi Bitcoin Kit (hBK) to enable Bitcoin-native smart contract access, Proof-of-Proof (PoP) consensus for Bitcoin-derived security, and Tunnels for trustless cross-chain portability. The platform also emphasizes asset programmability features such as on-chain routing, time-locks, password protection, and gasless transfers. Hemi’s incentivized testnet is live and the team is targeting a mainnet launch in Q4 2024. The company announced a $15 million investment round to develop and launch the network. Founders named in the release are Jeff Garzik and Max Sanchez; the announcement was issued from Chicago.

Participated · Seed · Mar 2025

Rakurai builds a high-yield Solana staking platform and a Rakurai client that accelerates node performance through proprietary transaction scheduling and pipeline optimizations. The project claims benchmark results showing its nodes deliver 5x the TPS of the standard Solana client, enabling more transaction-dense blocks and improved transaction landing for users, dApps and bots. Rakurai offers yield to stakers via higher block rewards and a Liquid Staking Pool called raiSOL, and allows node operators to quickly deploy the client for higher rewards. The company says the platform targets both retail and institutional participants by delivering high QoS transaction landing and increased efficiencies. Rakurai is led by CEO Ali Rizvi, an ex-Apple engineer with experience in ASIC/SOC design and ultra-low-latency systems. The team previously won the Colosseum Solana Renaissance Hackathon infrastructure track. The company plans to use the new funding to advance product development, partnership growth, and the rollout of its high-yield staking offerings. Rakurai publicly positions itself as a trusted validator operating on the Solana network.