Whatever happened to Katie Haun and her $1.5 billion crypto fund?

Since Haun’s funds launched, crypto has nosedived. Numerous projects including Terra and FTX imploded, sending the industry into a downward spiral; meanwhile the venture industry has gone through its own painful pullback amid rising interest rates and unrealistic valuations. And since late last year, Haun has largely avoided the media. This all had me and my colleague Leo Schwartz wondering: Whatever happened to Katie Haun and her $1.5 billion fund? 

Leo and I spent the past few months digging, and in our latest feature, we explore how Haun has been navigating the crisis. When she was raising her funds pre-crypto crash, she touted a roughly two year deployment schedule. But as we reported:  

Haun Ventures has proceeded more cautiously and now plans to take around three years to spend its cash. As of mid-June, the firm had deployed around 30% of its capital in about two dozen positions, which includes stakes in publicly traded, liquid tokens. Those can include prominent cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether, as well as smaller-cap tokens tied to projects that are often included as part of VC investments alongside traditional equity. Haun Ventures declined to name any it holds.

Over that time, the firm’s bets have been split almost evenly between digital tokens and traditional equity, although it has been emphasizing startup investments so far in 2023, according to [Haun Ventures] partner [Sam] Rosenblum. 

Among Haun Ventures’ investments so far is NFT creation platform Zora, as well as an investment in a $32 million extension to a Series B round for Aleo, a privacy-focused blockchain network, and an investment in Artemis, a crypto data analytics platform, both of which we reported for the first time. (The firm plans to announce more deals soon.) So far, Haun’s LPs don’t seem too worried about the firm’s pacing. Her investors are massive firms, including the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, taking a flier on crypto: “If this goes to zero, like, it’s not going to crush our portfolio,” one LP told us. But as we wrote: 

While some may appreciate the firm’s relative caution, there will still be pressure for Haun Ventures to do something with its capital since the firm, like other venture funds, charges a management fee. The industry average for such fees is around 2%. Haun Ventures declined to comment on its fees.

Haun’s relative caution isn’t relegated to just her investing, however. Since the collapse of FTX in November, Haun, who had once courted the media, has largely retreated from the limelight. And over the course of reporting this story, she rebuffed multiple interview requests. It’s in contrast to how Haun has helped publicly boost not only crypto, but her career. And as we report in the story, previous glowing media portrayals have drawn criticism from some of her former colleagues in the law enforcement world. 

I’ll let you dig into the full feature here. As for what’s next for Haun Ventures? I think Fred Wilson, cofounder of Union Square Ventures, summed it up best: “When they go back to raise a second fund,” he told us, “they’re going to want to have a really tight story around what they did and how they reacted to the changing market.” 

Carlyle earnings slump: The private equity titan reported earnings on Wednesday, and, like Blackstone a couple weeks ago, it suffered hefty year-over-year losses. Carlyle Group’s distributable earnings (those they can pay to shareholders) fell 26% compared to the second quarter in 2022; revenue, meanwhile, is now about half what it was a year ago, as the PE giants continue to feel the strains of the tough dealmaking environment. 

Union Square Ventures’ markdowns: VCs have been trimming the values of their portfolios as the downturn continues to batter tech valuations. Union Square Ventures, considered a top-performing VC, has reportedly cut the value of seven of their funds by almost 26% this year, Business Insider reported, according to investment returns for UTIMCO, which they obtained through a public records request. The downturn spares no one. 

See you tomorrow,

Anne Sraders
Twitter: @AnneSraders
Email: anne.sraders@fortune.com
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Jackson Fordyce curated the deals section of today’s newsletter.

VENTURE DEALS

- LightForce Orthodontics, a Burlington, Mass.-based personalized 3D printed braces system, raised $80 million in Series D funding. Ally Bridge Group led the round and was joined by Transformation Capital, CareCapital, Omega Venture Partners, Matter Venture Partners, the American Association of Orthodontics, Kleiner Perkins, Tyche Partners, and Matrix Partners. 

- Amber Bio, a San Francisco-based gene editing biotech company, raised $26 million in seed funding. Playground Global and Andreessen Horowitz Bio + Health co-led the round and were joined by Eli Lilly, RDF, Hummingbird Ventures, and Pillar VC. 

- 40Seas, a Tel Aviv-based digital financing platform, raised an additional $6 million in seed funding. Eminence Ventures, QED Investors, Team8, and ZIM invested in the round.

- Lightup, a Mountain View, Calif.-based data quality monitoring platform developer, raised $9 million in Series A funding. Andreessen Horowitz and Newland Ventures co-led the round and were joined by Spectrum 28 Capital, Shasta Ventures, Vela Partners, and Incubate Fund. 

- Language I/O, a Cheyenne, Wyo.-based multilingual customer support company, raised $8 million in Series A1 funding. Joint Effects led the round and was joined by Wyoming Business Council’s Wyoming Venture Capital Fund, Gutbrain Ventures, PBJ Capital, and Omega Venture Partners.

- Hushmesh, a Falls Church, Va.-based cybersecurity company, raised $5.2 million in funding. Paladin Capital Group led the round and was joined by Akamai Technologies. 

- Dynamon, a Southampton, U.K.-based data analytics and simulation tools software company for commercial transport and logistics companies, raised £4 million ($5.02 million) in funding from bp ventures.

- ConfiAbogado, a Mexico City-based legal tech startup and B2C labor law provider in Latin America, raised $1.65 million in seed funding. Tuesday Capital led the round and was joined by DTB Capital, Seedstars International Ventures, 500 Global, Invariantes, Goodwater, GAIN Capital, and Side Door Ventures.

- Wisecut, a Miami-based video editing software, raised $1 million in funding from Tim Draper.

PRIVATE EQUITY

- Guidepost Growth Equity acquired a minority stake in Intellum, an Atlanta-based enterprise learning management system, for $25 million. 

- Arlington Capital Partners acquired Integrated Data Services, an El Segundo, Calif.-based software and tech support and development provider for federal government customers. IDS’ co-founders Jerome Murray and James Truhe will retain a minority stake in the company. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

- BlackRock acquired Kreos, a London-based growth and venture debt financing provider to companies in the technology and health care industries. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- HCI Equity Partners acquired a majority stake in Custom Lawn Care, a Butler, Pa.-based lawn care treatment services company. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

- KKR agreed to acquire a majority stake in LEAP India, a Mumbai-based pallet pooling platform. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

- Mercer Global Advisors acquired Steward Wealth Management, a Colleyville, Texas-based wealth management firm. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

- New Water Capital acquired Norwood Paper, a Chicago-based non-box related packaging company, and BulkSak International, a Gastonia, N.C.-based packaging products manufacturer and distributor. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

- Palisade Infrastructure agreed to acquire the assets in Washington state of Consolidated Communications, a Mattoon, Ill.-based fiber communications solutions provider. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

- Rcapital acquired Bromford Group, a Leicester, U.K.-based aerospace and power generation business. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- WIN-911, backed by Capstreet, acquired SyTech, a Franklin, Mass.-based reporting software provider. The two companies will be rebranded as SmartSights. Financial terms were not disclosed.

OTHER

- Alliance Mobile acquired The Wireless Experience Group, a Manahawkin, N.J.-based AT&T authorized retailer. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

- NR West acquired Foster Benefit Resources, a Dallas-based employee insurance benefits provider. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

- Stavvy acquired Brace, a Culver City, Calif.-based mortgage servicing technology company. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

IPOS 

- Arm, the Cambridge, U.K.-based semiconductor unit of SoftBank, is targeting an initial public offering between $60-$70 billion as soon as September, according to Bloomberg.

FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS

- SK Capital Partners, a New York-based private investment firm, raised $800 million for a fund focused on investing in lower middle market companies.

- Lone View Capital, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm focused on growth-stage technology deals, raised $383.8 million for its first fund, according to an SEC filing.

- Draper Associates, Tim Draper’s San Mateo-based venture capital firm focused on seed and early stage investments, raised $152.3 million for its seventh fund, according to an SEC filing.

PEOPLE

- Primary VC, a New York-based venture capital firm, hired Emily Man as a partner. Formerly, she was with Redpoint Ventures.

Correction, Aug. 3, 2023: A previous version of this newsletter misspelled Capstreet.