Lemniscap Raises $70 Million For New Fund

Lemniscap, a crypto-focused venture capital firm, has raised a new fund worth $70 million to invest in early-stage startups.

The fund is anchored by Accolade Partners, a U.S.-based fund of funds, as stated by Lemniscap on Wednesday. Other limited partners include undisclosed high-net-worth individuals and the founders of Lemniscap's portfolio companies, Roderik van der Graaf, founder and managing partner of Lemniscap, told The Block.

> "This is our third fund," van der Graaf said. "The first close was in late 2023, with the last closing in mid-2024."

The fund was oversubscribed, prompting Lemniscap to turn down interest due to its $70 million hard cap, according to van der Graaf. He declined to comment on the extent of the oversubscription, noting those were soft commitments.

Lemniscap's first two funds were also in the 8-figure range, van der Graaf said, though he declined to comment on their specific sizes. He mentioned that the latest fund is the largest to date but did not disclose Lemniscap's assets under management (AUM).

Lemniscap's Third Fund

Van der Graaf stated that the new fund is segment-agnostic, focusing on:
– Zero-knowledge infrastructure
– Consumer applications
– The Bitcoin ecosystem
– Security
– Decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePINs)

The fund's average check size per investment ranges from $1 million to $2 million, with expectations to be fully deployed within two years. So far, approximately 20 deals have been completed, with Lemniscap leading or co-leading most.

Some of those 20 deals include Aligned Layer, LN Markets, Legitimate, Fjord Foundry, Farworld, Irys, Gattaca/Titan Builder, Impervious, and Lita, according to van der Graaf.

Since its founding in 2017, Lemniscap has made over 130 investments across its three funds. Notable portfolio companies include Avalanche, The Graph, Axelar, StepN, EigenLayer, Puffer, Monad, and Anoma. Lemniscap states that its foundational market thesis and investment rationale have maintained consistency despite market volatility and regulatory uncertainty.

Several crypto VCs have also recently raised or are in the process of raising new funds. Paradigm raised $850 million for its third fund in June, while Pantera Capital aims to raise $1 billion for its Fund V. Meanwhile, CMT Digital seeks to raise $150 million for its fourth crypto fund.

Venture investors have already invested over $8.4 billion into crypto startups globally this year, according to The Block Pro's Funding Dashboard, compared to last year's total investment of $11 billion.

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