2022 was a watershed year for crypto venture capital, as investors poured tens of billions of dollars into blockchain-focused startups despite the overwhelmingly bearish trend in asset prices. Is the VC-dominated crypto funding model good for the industry? Only time will tell.
Cointelegraph Research is still in the process of tallying all the funding figures for the year, but 2022 easily outpaced all other years in terms of total capital raised and deals completed. VC inflows were above $14 billion in each of the first two quarters before receding to just under $5 billion in the third quarter — still an impressive tally given the industry-wide contagion sparked by the sudden collapses of Celsius, Three Arrows Capital, Genesis, BlockFi and FTX, among others.
Against this backdrop, we’ve compiled a list of some of the biggest funding stories of 2022.
In March, crypto investor and Coinbase board member Katie Haun raised $1.5 billion for two Web3-focused investment funds. The newly launched Haun Ventures established a $500 million early-stage fund and a $1 billion acceleration fund to invest in “every layer of the Web3 tech stack.” In launching her new fund, Katie Haun recruited former executives from Airbnb, Coinbase and Google tech incubator Jigsaw.
Introducing @HaunVentures, a firm built for the next generation of the internet. We’ve raised $1.5 billion across two funds to invest in web3. An exciting first step, but the real work begins now. https://t.co/tBeE4OEJkD
Web3 has been a major focal point for venture capital over the past 12 months. Although Web3 companies are said to be working on the next version of the decentralized internet, the concept remains vague and the industry behind it is still in its infancy.
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