TLDR:
- 1kx, a crypto VC fund, has raised $75 million from major investors like Andreessen Horowitz and Galaxy Digital.
- The fund will primarily focus on investing in consumer applications in the digital asset sector.
1kx, a crypto investment company known for its focus on early-stage financing, has successfully raised $75 million from prominent venture capital firms, Bloomberg reported. The funding round saw participation from major players in the industry, such as Andreessen Horowitz, Accolade Partners, and Galaxy Digital. Chris Dixon, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, also took part in the investment.
The anchor investor for the fund is Accolade, a private equity firm based in the United States. The $75 million raised will be used primarily to invest in consumer applications within the digital asset sector. Since securing the investment, 1kx has already made investments in five different companies. Established in 2018, 1kx has gained recognition for its investments in early-stage infrastructure, consumer applications, and middleware companies.
Notable companies that have benefitted from 1kx’s investments include Klin, a French-based digital asset staking platform, and Pudgy Penguins, a collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The company has also shown interest in decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, with investments in Rarible and the Sandbox.
The news of 1kx’s funding comes at a time of increased institutional interest in crypto startups, driven by the recent introduction of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States. This has led to a resurgence in venture capital funding for crypto startups, with significant increases in Q4 2023. Venture capital funding in crypto startups reached $1.9 billion in the last quarter.
Several crypto startups have announced significant funding raises recently, indicating the growing confidence among institutional investors in blockchain technology. For example, EigenLayer, Ethereum’s largest restaking protocol by total value locked, received a $100 million funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Other firms like Lava Protocol, Analog, Helika, Truflation, and Omega have also seen funding rounds from venture capital.
