GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands, Aug. 28, 2024 — Lemniscap, a global thesis-driven investment firm backing early-stage Web3 founders, has raised a $70 million fund to provide financial backing and strategic guidance to help nascent Web3 startups scale at pace.
The generalist $70 million fund will focus on a broad range of opportunities across the blockchain ecosystem, with some of the key areas of interest including Zero Knowledge Infrastructure, Consumer Applications, emerging Bitcoin Ecosystem, Security, Phygital and Decentralised Physical Infrastructure (DePin). The fund is anchored by Accolade Partners, one of the largest Fund of Funds in the US, specialising in early-stage VC, growth equity and blockchain fund investments.
Lemniscap was founded in 2017 by Roderik van der Graaf, whose strong financial background includes tenure at some of the world’s most renowned financial institutions such as Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Rabobank and Bear Stearns. Having provided strategic advisory to early-stage blockchain companies since 2014, Roderik was uniquely positioned to launch an institutional grade investment firm tailored to the then niche space. He set about assembling a cohesive team of crypto-native veterans with synergetic experience combining Finance, Economics, Computer Science, and Entrepreneurship. Since the firm’s inception, the core team has remained intact, firmly aligned on a long-term mission to power a decentralised and transparent future.
Roderik van der Graaf, Founder and Managing Partner of Lemniscap, said: “In the seven years since we launched, reputation has become one of our strongest brands among founders, who we genuinely treat as partners. They represent our strongest edge when it comes to sourcing rich intelligence, building lasting partnerships, and honing in on early-stage, high-potential opportunities. This new fund will give us significant financial firepower to support the next generation of ambitious industry pioneers.”
Having developed, launched and managed multiple funds to date, significantly outperforming industry benchmarks and market peers, Lemniscap has established impeccable credentials among Web3 founders across the industry spectrum. Its first fund was launched at the tail end of 2017, right before the sharp market decline of 2018. Throughout the downturn, Lemniscap continued sourcing quality projects, and the bets the firm placed in 2018 have yielded substantial gains. Lemniscap’s foundational market thesis and investment rationale have remained intact throughout periods of market volatility and regulatory uncertainty.
To date, Lemniscap has made over 130 investments, growing from a follow-on investor to one of the Web3 industry’s most prominent lead investors and high conviction allocators. The Lemniscap portfolio has expanded to include top protocols and some of the most critical infrastructural solutions powering the Web3 industry, with flagship investments including Avalanche, The Graph, Axelar, StepN, Paragraph, LN Markets as well as Aligned Layer, Axelar, Eigen Layer, Puffer, Monad, and Anoma.
Marcos Veremis, Partner of Accolade Partners said: “Having already launched multiple successful funds underpinned by methodical, battle-tested investment theses, the Lemniscap team has proven adept at sourcing exceptional founders and projects at the cutting edge of Web3 innovation. We are supremely confident in the fund’s strategy and management team, and look forward to a prosperous and collaborative working relationship.”
The Lemniscap team’s multidisciplinary experience and deep-level Web3 expertise have helped them develop a nuanced understanding of the needs of founders operating in today’s frenetic and regulatory-sensitive industry. Lemniscap’s holistic approach to portfolio management prioritises long-term success rather than short-term gains, ensuring that each investment is nurtured comprehensively. Through ongoing, extensive market analysis, the team has their fingers on the pulse of impending technological advancements and future investment opportunities therein, giving them a distinct edge in the competitive market.
Shaishav Todi, General Partner at Lemniscap, said: “At Lemniscap, we believe that fostering innovation at the grassroots level is essential for building a robust and resilient decentralised ecosystem. Lemniscap takes great pride in being able to identify and help define emerging verticals – underpinned by scalable solutions with well-defined product roadmaps. Today’s announcement is another step in that journey, and we’re excited to continue working with founders who share our vision of a decentralised, transparent, and equitable digital future.”
About Lemniscap
Lemniscap is an investment firm specialising in investments in emerging crypto assets and blockchain startups. Since its founding in 2017, Lemniscap has funded multiple investments in the crypto blockchain space, on the core belief that blockchain technology will upend traditional business models, resulting in profound changes in the world economy. The Lemniscap team consists of talented people with backgrounds in financial markets, Venture Capital, technology and entrepreneurship. For more information, visit https://lemniscap.com/.
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SOURCE Lemniscap
