How AV’s Blockchain & Fintech Team Helps Web3 Startups Thrive
Executives from our Blockchain & Fintech Fund portfolio companies discuss the benefits of working with AV and our team
Alumni Ventures’ Blockchain & Fintech Fund team has developed strong relationships with innovative companies delivering cutting-edge AI and blockchain infrastructure and services for banking, insurance, supply chains, healthtech, retail, and more. We strive to go beyond providing capital and serve as a trusted partner to entrepreneurs as they navigate their startup journey. AV and our Blockchain & Fintech Fund team bring an extensive ecosystem network, our 750K+ community members, and our experience and expertise to help entrepreneurs and our portfolio companies grow faster. Below are quotes from Blockchain & Fintech Fund portfolio companies discussing the benefits of their relationship with AV and our team.*
Reserve Your Spot in Blockchain & Fintech Fund 5
Investors who join by our First or Second Close will earn
management fee reductions.
First Close: October 31, 2024 (10% fee discount)
Second Close: November 30, 2024 (5% fee discount)
Final Close: December 31, 2024
Max Accredited Investor Limit: 249
ChainML Labs is developing Theoriq, a protocol and marketplace for AI agents designed to work collaboratively to achieve better results for users. Unlike monolithic AI models from major tech companies, ChainML envisions a diverse ecosystem where specialized agents, created by developers and entrepreneurs, work together seamlessly to enhance both consumer and business applications.
Ron Bodkin
Founder and CEO, ChainML LAbs & Theoriq AI“Alumni Ventures’ Blockchain Fund has been a great partner to Theoriq. They have been helpful with introductions to partners for collaborating, in providing feedback and insights on strategic questions in the fast changing web3 space and helping to boost our visibility. We also appreciate their portfolio support including allowing our team to meet for workshops in their office. Ray and the team have been great partners to help us continue to grow and build our leadership in AI agents.”
Space and Time offers a decentralized data warehouse platform revolutionizing how data is verified and secured in AI and blockchain applications. The company is addressing the growing need for transparency, verifiability, and security in data processing.
Nate Holiday
Co-Founder and CEO, Space and Time“Alumni Ventures has been an invaluable partner for Space and Time. Ray and his team bring deep industry knowledge, practical insights, and essential connections that have directly impacted our growth. The support we’ve received has been key to scaling our business, and we look forward to continuing this successful collaboration.”
Ava Protocol is developing core Web3 infrastructure for intent-based private autonomous transactions. The company employs a novel technical model that automates the transaction process and supports all blockchain networks by autonomously connecting them across the chain.
Chris Li
Founder, Ava Protocol“Ray Wu and the team at Alumni Ventures have been invaluable in providing timely insights and feedback from a VC’s perspective, keeping us ahead of trends in the fast-evolving Web3 space. Their support has been essential in helping us navigate the dynamic market landscape. Ray also facilitated our press release with his podcast interviews, greatly amplifying our marketing messaging and raising awareness within the crypto community."
Pixelynx, a co-investment with Animoca Brands, Niantic (Pokémon GO), and Sfermion, is a music metaverse that enables physical and digital music ecosystems for artists to launch and control their own interactive experiences through playable worlds and NFTs.
Inder Phull
Founder and CEO, Pixelynx“Alumni Ventures’ Blockchain Fund has been a great partner to Pixelynx. Their ecosystem and network opened many new opportunities to raise further funding and build strategic partnerships across the sector. The team is always proactive to reach out and help ideate on our challenges or act as a sounding board as we go through key phases of growth. Ray and his blockchain team have been instrumental in our growth and they are one of the best VC partners we have worked with.”
Bitwave is the leading enterprise-focused digital asset management platform designed to provide visibility and transparency in tax, accounting, and compliance for cryptocurrency, DeFi, and NFTs. Bitwave helps enterprise finance and accounting departments manage and integrate digital assets with traditional bookkeeping and internal systems.
Devin Eldridge
Chief Strategy Officer, Bitwave"The Alumni Ventures Blockchain Fund has been an invaluable partner, propelling our growth to new heights with their unwavering support and extensive network. AV has opened new opportunities for us to forge strategic partnerships across the blockchain sector. The team's proactive approach, led by Ray, has been instrumental in helping us through market cycles during critical phases of our growth journey. Without a doubt, Alumni Ventures' Blockchain Fund is one of the best VC partners we have had the privilege to work with, and we are confident that their continued support will fuel our continued success.”
Autonomys (formerly Subspace Network) is a decentralized AI platform that integrates distributed storage, computing power, and various applications to develop AI-powered tools securely. We co-invested with Pantera, Coinbase, Crypto.com, and ConsenSys.
Jeremiah Wagstaff
Founder and CEO, Autonomys“Ray and the team at Alumni Ventures have proven to be incredible partners along our journey at Subspace. They have always gone above and beyond our expectations by facilitating numerous introductions with key investors and customers. Ray actively participates in our community and often provides useful feedback. We have no doubt they will continue to be involved over the long road ahead!"
Secure3 enables scalable, transparent security audits for centralized Web3 infrastructure. The company’s platform consists of a marketplace to connect customers with auditors; a streamlined, semi-automatic auditing SaaS; and a DAO to establish data records, audit SOP, and certify auditors.
Yuan Xia
Co-Founder and CEO, Secure3“Ray, Sophia, and Alumni Ventures have been one of the most resourceful and valuable partners to Secure3. The team at Alumni Ventures has not only provided great access to a vast network of investors, but also a variety of executive mentoring resources for continuous self-improving, team building, and culture building. Ray and Sophia have also been great partners, proactively helping us navigate the current challenging market and connecting us with industry leaders, customers, strategic partners, and marketing resources. We are happy to continue working together with Ray, Sophia, and Alumni Ventures to empower a more secure, transparent, and accountable Web3!”
Napster uses blockchain and token-based economics to bring the current Web2 music streaming economy into the Web3 era. Napster is leveraging its existing assets — including 15M users in 35 countries and 8M+ artists — to deliver compelling and exclusive benefits for artists, fans, and licensees. Napster earns subscription and ad fees, token sales, and a percentage of NFT sales & resales.
Jonathan Vlassopulos
CEO, Napster"Ray, Jack, and Sophia understand and are excited about what we are building at Napster. As such, they have been able to be extremely helpful in making connections to their extensive network of partners and fellow investors. Given their domain expertise in blockchain, they have also been a value add for us as we roll out our Web3 strategy”
Quai Network is building a blockchain that combines the best features of foundational blockchain architecture (Layer 1) such as Ethereum and overlay (L2) networks like Polygon to improve performance and scalability while maintaining security and decentralization. This company’s solution is a fundamental shift in how blockchain technology operates by integrating the functionality of a L2 solution into its own L1 blockchain infrastructure. The result: High transactions per second without sacrificing either decentralization or security.
Alan Orwick
Founder and CEO, Quai“Thanks to the dedicated efforts of Alumni Ventures’ Blockchain Fund, our team at Quai Network has been able create new meaningful industry relationships. Their unwavering support and expertise have been instrumental in our success, and we are grateful for their partnership and guidance in navigating the complex world of blockchain. Alumni Ventures’ Blockchain team truly embodies what it means to be a strategic partner and has proven to be an invaluable asset to our growth and trajectory. Ray, Jack, and Sophia are a powerhouse that we look forward to working with for a very long time!”
EthSign, a co-investment with three Sequoia funds (Sequoia U.S., Sequoia India, and Sequoia China) for the first time in Sequoia history, provides transparent blockchain based e-signature product and electronic agreements without privacy concerns.
Potter Li
Co-Founder and COO, EthSign“Sophia and the Blockchain Team at Alumni Ventures have provided unparalleled value to EthSign. They have been nothing but genuinely friendly and helpful since the beginning of our partnership. Sophia has introduced us to custodian wallets, protocols, and investors with whom we are building indispensable relationships with. Jin and Shail from Alumni Ventures' CEO Services team generously offered their New York office space, and helped us host our networking event that allowed us to jumpstart conversations with numerous potential customers. In addition to the opportunities Alumni Ventures has afforded us, they have been very easy to work with. We couldn’t be happier to have their team supporting us!”
GamerGains is a next-gen gaming company, democratizing earn-ability across the gaming ecosystem irrespective of skill level. Traditionally, earning as a gamer is reserved for streamers, influencers, and professionals. GamerGains is flipping the script by allowing gamers to earn $GAMER tokens simply for logging hours on the games they already love playing.
Jonathan Brovda
Founder and CEO, GamerGains“Jack and the team at the Blockchain Fund are a dream come true for Founders. They were instrumental in kickstarting our seed round and are available around the clock. Having an investor actually use your product and become a power user gives the team an unprecedented perspective to keep growing our business.”
Ecosapiens are a series of NFTs that enble consumer adoption of carbon offset purchases which traditionally have been bought by corporations. Each Ecosapien NFT is backed by 20 metric tons of tokenized CO2, equivalent to offsetting a year’s worth of the average American’s carbon output. The company takes 50% of the transaction value fee, with the remaining half used to offset carbon emissions, which are then embedded into the NFT.
Nihar Neelakanti
Founder and CEO, Ecosapiens“Jack and Ray are more than investors, they are genuinely and authentically interested in helping us thrive and stick through the highs and lows of market cycles. They’ve made a number of BD intros and the Alumni platform as a whole has connected us with the right thought leaders and mentors in the web3 space. They actively think through ways to unlock opportunities for us before we ourselves see them. Very grateful to have partnered with alumni in both our pre-seed and seed.”
Path is an SEC-registered investment firm offering solutions to simplify and personalize the cryptocurrency investing experience. Path’s asset management technologies, automated tools, and investment guidance help users implement effective investing strategies, customize exposure to digital assets, and reach financial goals.
Joel Birch
Founder and CEO, Path"I'm happy to share my appreciation for Jack and the whole team at Alumni Ventures, who have been an outstanding partners, providing invaluable support and guidance to our business at Path. Their exceptional digital asset market knowledge, strategic thinking, and genuine investment in our success have played an impactful role for me and my team as I can always lean on AV for support. Additionally, the entire Alumni network and CEO services are a massive value add to help set any portfolio company up for success. I can't recommend working with Jack and the Alumni Ventures team enough."
Blockchain & Fintech Fund 5 Open Now
Our Blockchain & Fintech Fund offers accredited investors a portfolio of ~15-20 startups delivering cutting-edge AI and blockchain infrastructure and services for banking, insurance, supply chains, healthtech, retail, and more. Investor who join by our First Close (10/31/2024) or Second Close (11/30/2024) will earn management fee reductions. The fund’s Final Close is December 31, 2024, and the fund minimum is $25K.
Contact [email protected] for additional information. To see additional risk factors and investment considerations, visit av-funds.com/disclosures.
*Testimonials were provided by the participants without compensation. Each participant has a relationship with AV from which they benefit. All views expressed are the individual’s own. A potential conflict of interest could arise if a provider of a testimonial who is an investor expects more favorable investment opportunities or who is a representative of a portfolio company expects that follow-on investments are more likely after a positive testimonial, although AV does not believe any provider of testimonials to AV has any such expectations. AV further seeks to avoid or mitigate any such potential conflicts of interest by offering no special opportunities in exchange for a testimonial. The testimonials reflect editing by AV for clarity, but such editing is not intended to materially alter tone. The providers of these testimonials were not selected on objective or random criteria, but rather were selected based on AV’s understanding of its relationship with the providers of the testimonials. Testimonials do not represent the experience of all AV fund investors or all companies in which AV funds invest.