Hack VC closes ‘oversubscribed’ $150M fund for crypto startups

The firm has previously invested in the companies behind Sui and Eigenlayer

February 20, 2024 02:50 pm

RenataP/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

The venture capital firm Hack VC has raised $150 million to invest in early-stage Web3 companies.

Hack VC’s vice president of finance Jigar Shah said in a post on X that the round was oversubscribed, meaning the firm raised more funds than intended.

Crypto venture activity appears to be on a continued upswing as the prices of major cryptocurrencies test highs not seen in years.

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So far, Hack VC’s major thesis has been modular infrastructure, the firm’s managing partner Alexander Pack told Blockworks. Modular software breaks larger structures into smaller, specialized pieces. It is also hoping to invest in tokenized real-world assets to “build better stablecoins.”

Founded in 2017, Hack VC is helmed by Ed Roman and Alexander Pack. Roman launched the Hack.Summit() programmer conference in 2014 which is now supported by Hack VC. Pack co-founded another crypto venture outlet, Dragonfly, in 2018.

The firm boasts unicorns like Mysten Labs, developer of the Sui blockchain, and the decentralized wireless network Helium (developed by Nova Labs) in its portfolio, according to its website. The VC shop has been around long enough to see some less successful bets as well: It was an investor in collapsed crypto projects Terra and BlockFi.

“The most important thing in Web3 is to survive and to keep building, because the building never stops and the pace of infrastructural development is just as fast (if [not] more so) in bear markets as in bull markets,” Pack told Blockworks in an email.

Hack VC becomes the latest crypto venture firm to announce a new fund amid a burgeoning bull market. Lightspeed Faction raised $285 million for blockchain startups in November, and RW3 Ventures launched with $60 million in funding last week. A PitchBook report said $1.9 billion in venture funding was committed to crypto in Q4, a 2.5% increase from Q3.

Updated Feb. 23, 2024 at 10:27 am ET: Clarified Hack VC invested in Mysten Labs, the company behind Sui, rather than in Sui itself.

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