Crypto fund Hack VC looks to raise even more capital for seed stage digital-asset bets

Venture capital firms continue to race back into crypto as digital asset prices tick upward after a prolonged decline. 

In the latest such example of market optimism, Hack VC is raising at least US$100 million for another fund that will target seed-stage investments in crypto startups, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private information. 

New York-based Hack VC raised a US$150 million fund last month and had already deployed a third of it, managing partner Alex Pack told Bloomberg News at the time. Pack declined to comment on this latest effort to raise money. The firm’s also raised a US$200 million fund in 2022.

Hack VC has backed startups like blockchain developer Mysten Labs and crypto financial firm Amber Group. The firm also invests in tokens directly. 

A growing number of so-called “crypto-native” VC firms, those which specialize in blockchain investing, are taking advantage of relatively buoyant conditions after an extended market malaise. Hivemind Capital is currently working on a US$50 million nonfungible token fund, while Framework Ventures recently co-led a US$69 million round for the Berachain blockchain platform at a US$1.5 billion valuation.

By contrast, crypto startup funding experienced an epic drought in 2023, plunging by more than two-thirds to US$9.5 billion globally compared to a year prior, according to PitchBook data. 

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Data tracked by Galaxy Digital, the crypto financial services firm, shows that venture firms in crypto raised just US$5.8 billion last year, down from a whopping US$37.7 billion in 2022 and US$20.6 billion the year before. BLOOMBERG