Polychain secures $200m for fourth crypto VC fund amid staff departure

Polychain Capital has successfully secured approximately $200 million in the first round of funding for its fourth crypto venture capital fund.

A source familiar with the matter revealed that Polychain intends to reach a total fundraising goal of $400 million for the fund.

A substantial fundraising achievement

Established in 2016 by Olaf Carlson-Wee, Coinbase’s first employee, Polychain Capital is a VC firm focused on blockchain investments.

The firm’s projected $400 million target is said to match the amount outlined in its April filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the Polychain Ventures IV (Parallel) LP fund, according to Fortune.

Despite substantial fundraising achievement, Polychain Capital has undergone staff changes, resulting in the departure of three members from its research team due to a shift in investment focus. 

The company has taken the lead in funding a diverse range of enterprises, including Uniswap, a decentralized exchange, and Yellow Card, an African cryptocurrency exchange. In the former, the Series B funding round raised $165 million, and in the latter, $40 million in the latter.

More recently, Polychain participated in a Series A funding round for Fleek, a developer platform for web3, in December 2022.

Overcoming the crypto winter

Amidst a backdrop of mounting concerns over regulatory uncertainties and economic instability, the availability of funding for cryptocurrency startups has been steadily diminishing. The flow of venture capital into the industry has experienced a significant decline for the fifth consecutive quarter since Q1 2022, with a global total of $2.34 billion. 

This figure, derived from a crypto database platform Root Data, was accumulated through 382 deals during the second quarter. However, it stands in stark contrast to the industry’s peak of $12.14 billion achieved in Q1 2022.