By
Steve Muchoki
April 4th, 2024
Since its establishment, 1kx has gained recognition for its investments in early-stage infrastructure, consumer applications, and middleware companies.
1kx, a crypto investment company known for its focus on early-stage financing, has successfully raised $75 million from prominent venture capital firms, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing an interview with the company’s founder.
According to the report, 1kx founding partner Lasse Clausen said prominent venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz, Accolade Partners, and Galaxy Digital participated in the funding. Chris Dixon, an American internet entrepreneur and investor who is also a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, also participated in the funding.
Anchor Investor and Investment Focus
Clausen said in the interview that Accolade, a private equity company headquartered in the United States, served as the fund’s anchor. He further disclosed that the $75 million will be primarily used to invest in consumer applications within the digital asset sector. Clausen revealed that the firm has already invested part of the funds in five different companies since securing the investment.
1kx was established in 2018 by Clausen and Christopher Heymann. Since then, the company has gained recognition for its investments in early-stage infrastructure, consumer applications, and middleware companies.
The company has made notable investments in different sectors of the emerging economy. Beneficiaries of these investments include Klin, a French-based digital asset staking platform, and Pudgy Penguins, a collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). 1kx has also shown interest in decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, with strategic investments in Rarible and the Sandbox.
Growing Institutional Interest in Crypto
Meanwhile, the 1kx’s investment fund disclosure comes at a time of increased institutional interest in crypto startups after a few years of decline. Experts believe the interest is fueled by the recent introduction of the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States. According to them, the move has ushered in a resurgence in venture capital funding for crypto startups.
According to a report from PitchBook, venture capital funding in crypto startups significantly increased in Q4 2023, reaching $1.9 billion. This figure represents a 2.5% increase from the previous quarter, signaling renewed confidence among institutional investors in blockchain.
Last month, different crypto startups announced significant funding raises, including Lava Protocol, Analog, Helika, Truflation, and Omega. Andreessen Horowitz even led a $100-million funding round for EigenLayer, Ethereum’s largest restaking protocol by total value locked.
In March, several crypto companies also raised funds from venture capital. On March 20, Coinspeaker reported that Mystiko.Network received $18 million from institutional investors.
Before then, another firm MANTRA announced that it had secured $11 million from investors to enhance its business offerings and promote its platform.