1/ crypto VC is going through an explosive 🧨 phase
there are big funds (>$500M AUM), a lot of small funds (<$50M AUM), and *tons* of prop firms + angels
i’ve done 15 deals in the last 3 months as an angel + small fund @CoinSharesCo VC.
observations + implications... 👇🏾
2/ the big firms need to deploy in size - $5M checks and up
a $250M fund could do a $5-10M deal every month for two years and still be under-allocated
and there aren’t enough companies raising series B / C / D rounds!!!
every deal i’ve done lately is under $50M valuation
3/ so we see firms competing to take down entire rounds.
a recent series A financing had two firms competing to take down the ENTIRE ROUND, and it eventually got upsized, a LOT.
if a company is putting up user acquisition / growth and a revenue story, it’s highly competitive
4/ most projects and co’s don’t need money tho - why would a founder take 20-40% dilution when they’re banking cash and crypto? so they do 5-10%
so the valuations go up, but available allocations go down, resulting in an even bigger squeeze on allocators who *need* to deploy
5/ add in the onslaught of non-crypto M&A that’s coming, which is culling the herd of investable unicorns
add in the wave of SPACs and direct listings taking later stage opportunities out
there just aren’t enough places to put capital in size rn
what’s a fund to do?