In an interview with TechCrunch, fund partner Alex Pack revealed that the investors behind virtual hack.summit, the world’s largest blockchain programmer event, has formed a $200 million crypto startup fund underneath the Hack VC banner.
Before collaborating with Pack, who previously co-founded global crypto fund Dragonfly Capital and oversaw Bain Capital Ventures’ debut into digital assets, Ed Roman was a solo GP who financed in early-stage tech as well as crypto firms for over ten years via Hack VC. Prior to founding this fund, Pack and Roman both invested in a number of early-stage crypto firms, including Compound Finance and Terra, both DeFi platforms, according to Pack.
As per Pack, Hack VC finished financing last fall and has been fairly active since then, making “at least” 15 investments totaling tens of millions of dollars. Its recent investments range from Yat, an NFT emoji firm, to Goldfinch Finance, a DeFi financing platform, to SynCity, a metaverse gaming company.
Hack’s thesis revolves around financing in the “scaffolding” for a digital rights system for the entire internet, with an investing in emerging economies, according to Pack.
More About the Hack VC Staff
About half of the Hack VC staff works in its dedicated in-house Crypto Lab, which Pack sees as a source of competitive advantage for the venture company. Crypto networks are user-owned, thus early adopters of new protocols are vital for crypto investors, according to Pack.
Pack’s role in giving seed money to over a dozen crypto funds, including Multicoin, Polychain, Paradigm, Standard, and Parafi, has resulted in Hack VC having “excellent coinvestor relationships” with several other venture companies in the industry, he said.
Despite this, he feels Hack VC adds value to the ecosystem by investing in deep-tech, edgy, early-stage crypto startups. Hack VC does, though, contemplate co-investments with most of its LPs in other sectors.
