2022 was a watershed year for crypto venture capital, as investors poured tens of billions of dollars into blockchain-focused startups despite the ove
2022 was a watershed year for crypto venture capital, as investors poured tens of billions of dollars into blockchain-focused startups despite the overwhelmingly bearish trend in asset prices. Is the VC-dominated crypto funding model good for the industry? Only time will tell.
Cointelegraph Research is still in the process of tallying all the funding figures for the year, but 2022 easily outpaced all other years in terms of total capital raised and deals completed. VC inflows were above $14 billion in each of the first two quarters before receding to just under $5 billion in the third quarter — still an impressive tally given the industry-wide contagion sparked by the sudden collapses of Celsius, Three Arrows Capital, Genesis, BlockFi and FTX, among others.
Against this backdrop, we’ve compiled a list of some of the biggest funding stories of 2022.
Haun Ventures: Raises $1.5B
In March, crypto investor and Coinbase board member Katie Haun raised $1.5 billion for two Web3-focused investment funds. The newly launched Haun Ventures established a $500 million early-stage fund and a $1 billion acceleration fund to invest in “every layer of the Web3 tech stack.” In launching her new fund, Katie Haun recruited former executives from Airbnb, Coinbase and Google tech incubator Jigsaw.
Introducing @HaunVentures, a firm built for the next generation of the internet. We’ve raised $1.5 billion across two funds to invest in web3. An exciting first step, but the real work begins now. https://t.co/tBeE4OEJkD
— Kathryn Haun (@katie_haun) March 22, 2022
Web3 has been a major focal point for venture capital over the past 12 months. Although Web3 companies are said to be working on the next version of the decentralized internet, the concept remains vague and the industry behind it is still in its infancy.
Related: Investors chase Web3 as blockchain industry builds despite bear market
Huobi Global: Launches $1B fund
In June, crypto exchange Huobi Global spun out a $1 billion investment fund focused on decentralized finance (DeFi) and Web3 projects. Dubbed Ivy Blocks, the new fund was designed to identify and invest in “promising blockchain projects” across a range of crypto sub-sectors. Specifically, Huobi Global will focus on providing “liquidity investments” to help DeFi projects get up and running.
The DeFi sector deflated with the rest of the cryptocurrency market in 2022, but unlike centralized exchanges, the sector was largely resilient to contagion.
NBA Top Shot creator: $725M fund
Dapper Labs, the company behind CryptoKitties and NBA Top Shot, launched a $725 million fund to support the development of its Flow blockchain. The fund received backing from a range of investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Spartan Group and CoinFund. In addition to supporting the development community already building on Flow, the fund is being used to lure developers from other blockchains such as Ethereum.
Although Dapper Labs has produced some of the biggest nonfungible token (NFT) collections in recent years, sales have lagged other layer-1 ecosystems due to weaker network effects and a smaller collection of decentralized applications.
Dragonfly Capital: Launches $650M fund
Crypto VC Dragonfly Capital closed its third funding round in April, raising $650 million to surpass its two previous rounds of $100 million and $200 million. The funding initiative, which was supported by Tiger Global, Sequoia China, KKR and Invesco, was higher than the $500 million the company initially declared as part of its Form D filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Dragonfly said the funds would be used to invest in DeFi, metaverse and blockchain gaming startups.
Fireblocks: Raises $550M
Digital asset custody platform Fireblocks saw its valuation surge in January after closing a $550 million Series E funding round. The latest round brought Fireblocks’ cumulative funding to $799 million since 2019, as VCs continued to back institutional infrastructure solutions. Some of Fireblocks’ most prominent clients include Bank of New York Melon, Galaxy Digital and CoinShares. It also served the now defunct BlockFi and Three Arrows Capital.
Binance Labs: Earmarks $500M for Web3 development
Blockchain incubation and late-stage growth featured prominently in Binance Labs’ $500 million fund, which launched in June. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said the funds would support project founders leading Web3 adoption across the DeFi, NFT, gaming, metaverse and social sub-sectors. At the time of its launch, Binance Labs’ fund was already supporting 14 projects across the DeFi and social finance sub-sectors.
Yuga Labs: $450M
Although the NFT market peaked in 2021, VCs are…
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