Uniswap Labs Ventures will help crypto startups in Web 3.0, build and scale across strategy, engineering, partnerships, products, and design.
Uniswap Labs, the developer behind the decentralized exchange (DEX) protocol Uniswap, launched its new venture unit on Monday. Dubbed Uniswap Labs Ventures, the unit will invest in Web 3.0 projects across different categories.
Uniswap Labs said that it will focus on startups building blockchain infrastructure, consumer-facing apps, and other developer tools. Although they have not disclosed the size of the fund, Matteo Leibowitz – Uniswap Labs Ventures’ lead – told The Block that the investments will happen directly from Uniswap Labs’ balance sheet. However, Leibowitz refrained from commenting on the size of the balance sheet.
Even before launching its venture arm, Uniswap Labs has been investing in crypto projects. It has invested across 11 such projects including popular ones such as Compound protocol, MakerDAO, LayerZero, PartyDAO, and Ethereum developer platform Tenderly.
Matteo Leibowitz also shed some light on how Uniswap Labs decided to invest in a project. Speaking to The Block said he that the company puts “a lot of emphasis on the tenacity and vision of the founders”. He further added:
“Beyond that, we look for projects that will advance the benefits of Web3 and user adoption. In all cases, we seek to support teams that can benefit from our experience and expertise as a fast-growing crypto-native company”.
Helping Crypto Startups Scale
One of the primary objectives of Uniswap Labs Ventures will be to help crypto startups build and scale across their Web 3.0 strategy, engineering, partnerships, products, and design. Besides, the firm has assured that it will actively participate in on and off-chain governance of projects.
Other big players like Sequoia Capital and Bain Capital Ventures have shown in similar projects. They have also launched their dedicated crypto funds.
Furthermore, Uniswap Labs Ventures is also planning to participate in governance systems of Aave, MakerDAO, Compound, and Ethereum name service protocols. Leibowitz said that the company will invest in both equity and token deals. He added:
“The growth of Web3 companies supporting each other through venture investments reflects the principles of collaboration that are so fundamental to the industry’s open-source ethos. The Uniswap ecosystem has benefited enormously from third-party contributions, and we’re excited to pay it forward by sharing our experience and expertise with our peers”.
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