Participated · Equity · Oct 2025

Fanable, built by Ethernal Labs, offers a hybrid marketplace where items such as Pokémon cards, comics, games, and tapes are stored in Brink’s vaults while corresponding blockchain certificates allow verified digital trading. The platform manages logistics, insurance, and storage so collectors can focus on buying, selling, and trading through its iOS, Android, and web apps. Fanable has processed more than 20,000 sales transactions to date and reports that transaction volume is doubling month-over-month, underscoring rapid traction. Revenue figures were not disclosed, but the company’s royalty system ensures original submitters earn a fee on every resale, creating recurring value streams. Future plans include rolling out additional Web3-native features, expanding availability to more countries, and deepening engagement in what it calls the world’s largest Pokémon ecosystem. Fanable is also partnering with the Collect Foundation to introduce the $COLLECT governance and loyalty token, currently in a point-farming phase. By merging physical authenticity with digital liquidity, Fanable aims to redefine how fans interact with and monetize their prized collectibles.

Participated · Series A · May 2023

Triumph provides a plug-and-play payments and compliance engine that enables game developers to run skill-based real-money tournaments. Its stack handles KYC, payments processing, gaming law and privacy compliance, anti-fraud, accounting, and player skill matchmaking. The product is intended to shield developers from legal and operational complexity while making real-money offerings viable. Triumph plans to use the new funding to expand to additional platforms beyond mobile and to offer novel real-money experiences. The company is currently operating in 37 states and Washington, D.C., and intends to continue expanding as the legal landscape evolves. To support scaled operations it has made key hires in legal, engineering, and product leadership. Triumph Labs offers a novel API and SDK that integrates real-cash competitions into fast-casual mobile games, handling tournament hosting, matchmaking, payment, arbitration, and compliance. The product can be integrated into mobile apps in as little as an hour and is reported to drive up to 10× greater gameplay monetization for developers. Triumph’s platform includes anti-cheating mechanisms and fair matchmaking to create a secure environment, and it positions itself as a skill-based gaming platform compliant with local and federal gambling regulations. The company was founded by Jake Brooks and Jared Geller. Flux Capital said it plans to work with Triumph to expand its offerings into new gaming verticals and consoles. The article reports a completed $2 million financing led by Flux Capital.

Led · Seed · May 2023

Tristero builds decentralized dark pool technology aimed at minimizing the price impact of large trades. The company is developing what it describes as "dark dark pools" and plans to debut a proof of concept to lower costs for cross-chain stablecoin transactions. It intends to use its new funding to build markets that account for invisible trading costs and make markets more efficient. Led by CEO and founder Sam Trautwein, Tristero says this work will put money back in the pockets of builders and investors. The company plans to launch its first product in Q2 2023. Financially, it recently completed a seed financing to support these product and market-development efforts.

Participated · Seed · Aug 2022

28 is a U.S.-based femtech startup that delivers cycle-focused fitness and wellness programs tailored to users' menstrual phases. Its product includes daily exercise videos, nutritional profiles and "science-based emotional insights," organized into four phase-specific programs (restore, awaken, perform, balance), and is currently soft-launching free on the web. The company is not a period-tracking app and currently personalizes content based on users entering the first day of their last period, though it says it is developing technology to increase personalization and accuracy. Android and iOS apps are in development and an R&D physical product is being worked on to accompany the service. 28 operates a freemium business model and plans to monetize via premium content and physical products; it aims to reach one million users within 12 months. Founders bootstrapped prior to the $3.2M seed and the company emphasizes privacy, stating it will not sell user data and uses information only to provide a customized experience.

Participated · Seed · Jul 2022

Socket, founded by Stanford graduate Eva Zhang in 2022 and based in New York City, builds Web3 privacy infrastructure for social interactions tied to crypto wallets. The product aims to let users discover people and projects without exposing wallet addresses or financial details, indexing previously unsearchable social information while preserving privacy. Zhang is currently the only full-time team member and the company plans to generate revenue in the short term by offering advanced querying functions to users while preserving privacy. Socket frames wallet addresses as an unsafe default social primitive that leaks financial privacy and creates risks like targeted surveillance, sybil attacks, and marketing/allowlist challenges. The startup is initially targeting users and projects that rely on tokens with social utility—governance tokens, social tokens, and NFTs—where community discoverability is critical. Competitors named in the article include smaller startups such as Disco and Big Whale Labs and incumbents like Twitter and Discord.