• Crypto Valley Exchange

  Led · Seed · Apr 2024

  CVEX is a decentralized exchange focused on building a dedicated DEX mainnet with enhanced trading functionality. The mainnet is planned to launch on Arbitrum and will support user wallets on Ethereum, Optimism, BASE, and Solana. On CVEX, collateral deposits are denominated in USDC. The company completed fundraising consisting of pre-seed and seed financings totaling $7 million. The round was led by Fabric Ventures and Kyber Capital Crypto Fund with participation from several crypto-focused investors. Proceeds are positioned to support the mainnet development and multi-chain wallet integrations.

• Kinto

  Led · Equity · Nov 2023

  Kinto is a modular exchange built on a custom Layer 2 stack with Chain Abstraction technology that combines institutional-grade security with retail accessibility. Its core product is a non-custodial smart wallet and modular exchange offering features such as User-Owned KYC, insured wallets, chain-abstracted swaps and lending markets, and a native Hyperliquid integration for advanced trading. The platform aims to bridge traditional and decentralized finance and to make it easy for users to move on- and off-chain without using centralized exchanges. Kinto currently serves approximately 75,000 verified users and manages about $62 million in total value locked, and the company reports steady revenue streams. Large institutional participation includes a $20 million asset deployment by Brevan Howard Digital’s Abu Dhabi branch. The company is preparing a token launch scheduled for February 18, 2025 as a key milestone in its product rollout. Kinto is a KYC’ed Layer 2 blockchain designed to support modern financial institutions and decentralized protocols with low cost and security. The network aims to meet requirements of both DeFi and traditional finance while protecting user privacy and assets. Kinto’s KYC mechanism encrypts personal information and stores it with a third party, shareable only at user request. The platform insures every app to shield users from untraceable exploits and anonymous scams. It also offers developer incentives intended to make the network attractive for launching new applications. Kinto raised $5M across two rounds to fund team expansion and network development and is led by CEO Ramon Recuero in Orlando, FL.

• Beluga

  Participated · Seed · Oct 2023

  Beluga provides a trusted platform and suite of software tools that help new users discover, learn about, and use crypto products across DeFi, NFTs, web3 games, staking and other financial products. The platform helps users manage their crypto portfolio and cuts through noise to surface safer, recommended products. The company announced a $4M seed round from well-known crypto and FinTech investors to support product development and growth. Management and founders are Silicon Valley and crypto veterans from BitPay, Robinhood Crypto, dYdX, CoinDesk and Coupa Software; Sonny Singh is a co-founder. Beluga plans to launch additional onboarding tools in the coming months to further help new users find and use the best crypto products. The company is based in San Francisco.

• CoolBitX

  Participated · Equity · Sep 2018

  Founded in 2014 and based in Taiwan, CoolBitX builds cryptocurrency security products including the CoolWallet S Bluetooth hardware wallet and Sygna, a travel-rule compliance solution for VASPs. Sygna is designed to help virtual asset service providers meet the FATF "travel rule" by securely transmitting PII during transactions. The company says 12 cryptocurrency exchanges have signed memorandums of understanding and are using or testing Sygna, including SBI VC Trade, Coincheck, Bitbank, DMM Bitcoin, BITpoint, MaiCoin, BitoPro and Ace. CoolBitX says Sygna has been tested and proven by users, which the founder argues differentiates it from competitors. With the new funding, the company plans to expand Sygna’s presence beyond the Asia-Pacific region. The startup raised a $16.75 million Series B to support these efforts. CoolBitX, founded in 2014 and based in Taipei, Taiwan, makes the CoolWallet S, a credit-card-sized mobile secure cold-storage hardware wallet. The CoolWallet S features an e-ink display, a physical confirmation button, Bluetooth connectivity and 2+1 factor authentication security. The device is described as damage-proof (waterproof, heat- and cold-resistant, and tamper-proof) and supports over-the-air updates, currently supporting Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, XRP, Bitcoin Cash and ERC-20 tokens. CoolBitX provides native iOS and Android apps that offer a mobile dashboard to exchange, monitor, and store crypto. The company announced the U.S. launch of the CoolWallet S, a partnership with the Litecoin Foundation, and plans to open a U.S. office to expand its American presence. Financially, CoolBitX raised $13M in venture capital from multiple strategic backers. CoolBitX is a Taiwan-based company that builds the CoolWallet bitcoin hardware wallet and embedded security devices for protecting private keys. Its product includes signature authorization and verification mechanisms that synchronize with a smartphone, a built-in backup facility, and support for offline pass phrases to recover lost or stolen devices. The firm plans to use a recent $500,000 investment to create new implementations of its wallet security for IoT devices, the medical industry and other blockchain sectors where identity is paramount. Product roadmaps shown to CoinDesk include a secure communication system to encrypt smartphone files, a decentralized bitcoin exchange, and co-branded wallets with enterprise clients. CoolBitX also intends to develop a “blockchain medical record” that encrypts medical data with private keys and uses HD wallet architecture to offer different levels of access for institutions and staff. The company is positioning its CoolWallet technology as a more broadly applicable decentralized security protocol for non-cryptocurrency applications.

No current team members are available.