Crypto is the forgotten middle child of tech right now, sandwiched in between AI labs and vertical AI startups. Despite small glimmers of hope for blockchain technology, from continued hype around stablecoins to sustained hope for market structure legislation, sentiment is at an all-time low, especially because there’s no easy villain like Gary Gensler or Sam Bankman-Fried to blame for sinking prices.
Amid the winter, the blockchain venture firm Dragonfly Capital managed to close its $650 million fourth fund, avoiding the “mass extinction event” suffered by its peers, as general partner Rob Hadick put it. The simple reason for its success is timely investments into a number of category winners that convinced its backers to re-up the war chest, including Polymarket and the stablecoin card issuer Rain. But beneath that is a years-long belief that crypto would be hurtling toward Wall Street, and not toward a Web3 version of the internet that other VCs saw in the glimmering future.
Dragonfly began in 2018 as a partnership between Alex Pack, then leading crypto deals for Bain Capital Ventures, and Bo Feng, a veteran of the early Chinese internet ecosystem. The firm had a rocky first few years, including a breakup with Pack that has become lore in blockchain VC circles, as well as an abandonment of China amid the government’s crypto crackdown. But led by Haseeb Qureshi and Tom Schmidt, Dragonfly built a name for itself as one of the top investors in the space. After Hadick came over from the traditional finance side in 2022, though, Dragonfly shifted its focus, realizing that crypto was quickly converging with fintech.
Schmidt told me that crypto is going through “the biggest meta shift” he has experienced during his time in the industry, as investors realize that there will be fewer native tokens for apps—the previous model for crypto VCs—and more tokens that represent real-world assets like stocks and private credit funds.
Is this a comedown for blockchain technology, which began as a rebellion against Wall Street and governmental control of global finance? Probably. But even as crypto loses its sheen, Schmidt says it’s important to not lose sight of the bigger picture, which is that digital internet money has gone from “zero to a trillion dollars in 10 years.”
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Leo Schwartz
X: @leomschwartz
Email: leo.schwartz@fortune.com
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VENTURE DEALS
- Temporal, a Bellevue, Wash.-based platform designed to help developers build apps that run reliably, raised $300 million in Series D funding. Andreessen Horowitz led the round and was joined by Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sapphire Ventures, and others.
- Render, a San Francisco-based cloud platform for app developers, raised $100 million in Series C-1 funding. Georgian led the round and was joined by existing investors Addition, Bessemer Venture Partners, General Catalyst, and 01 Advisors.
- Avantos, a New York City-based developer of an AI operating system designed for client onboarding and servicing financial institution clients, raised $25 million in Series A funding. Bessemer Venture Partners led the round and was joined by others.
- SurrealDB, a London, U.K.-based developer of a database for AI agents, raised $23 million in a Series A extension from Chalfen Ventures, Begin Capital, and existing investors.
- Moab, a New York City-based developer of an operating system designed for equipment rental and dealership businesses, raised $16 million across Seed and Series A rounds. Elad Gil led both rounds and was joined by Ironspring Ventures and angel investors.
- Autosana, a San Francisco-based agentic AI-powered quality assurance platform for web and mobile apps, raised $3.2 million in funding from Y Combinator, Pioneer Fund, Phosphor Capital, and others.
- Marquee, a New York City-based AI-powered decision intelligence platform for professional sports organizations, raised $1.2 million in pre-seed funding. AnD Ventures led the round and was joined by others.
PRIVATE EQUITY
- Future Standard acquired a majority stake in Velonex Technologies, a San Antonio, Texas-based IT services company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Tencarva Machinery Company, backed by Bessemer Investors, acquired Hoffman-Kane Distributors, a Pittsburgh, Penn.-based distributor and service provider of flow control and process equipment solutions. Financial terms were not disclosed.
EXITS
- Blackstone agreed to acquire Champions Group, an Orange County, Calif.-based home services company, from Odyssey Investment Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Booz Allen Hamilton agreed to acquire Defy Security, a Canonsburg, Penn.-based cybersecurity company, from Sverica Capital Management. Financial terms were not disclosed.
IPOS
- Liftoff Mobile, a Redwood City, Calif.-based marketing and monetization platform for mobile businesses, withdrew its plans to raise up to $762 million in an offering of 25.4 million shares priced between $26 and $30.
FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS
- Thrive Capital, a New York City-based venture capital firm, raised $10 billion for its tenth fund focused on internet, software and tech-enabled companies.
PEOPLE
- CRV, a San Francisco and Palo Alto, Calif.-based venture capital firm, promoted Veronica Orellana to general partner.
