Amsterdam-based Theta Capital Administration raised over $175 million for its newest fund-of-funds, geared toward supporting early-stage blockchain startups by way of specialised enterprise capital (VC) companies.
The brand new automobile, Theta Blockchain Ventures IV, will channel capital into crypto-native VC companies with a monitor document of backing blockchain innovation, Theta’s managing companion and chief funding officer Ruud Smets instructed Bloomberg.
Smets mentioned the technique focuses on specialist managers who can outperform generalist traders within the earliest funding rounds.
“We’ve all the time been searching for areas the place specialization and lively administration present a sustainable edge,” Smets famous. He mentioned that the expertise and positioning of devoted crypto VCs “has compounded over time,” creating boundaries for much less centered traders attempting to enter the area.
Based in 2001, Theta shifted its focus to digital property in 2018 and now manages about $1.2 billion. The agency has backed main crypto funding names similar to Polychain Capital, CoinFund and Citadel Island Ventures.
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Crypto VC offers rebound
The fund’s shut comes as crypto enterprise capital begins to rebound. Based on Galaxy Digital, VC funding in digital property rose 54% within the first quarter of 2025 to $4.8 billion, signaling renewed confidence within the sector after a protracted downturn.
A report from PitchBook additionally confirmed that crypto enterprise capital funding surged in early 2025, whilst deal exercise declined.
The report confirmed that 405 VC offers have been accomplished in Q1 2025, a 39.5% drop from the 670 recorded in the identical interval final yr. Nevertheless, that’s a modest uptick from the 372 offers seen in This autumn 2024.
Regardless of fewer offers, whole funding greater than doubled year-over-year, reaching $6 billion in Q1 in comparison with $2.6 billion in Q1 2024, additionally doubling from the earlier quarter’s $3 billion.
PitchBook’s senior crypto analyst Robert Le famous that even amid macroeconomic uncertainty, “capital continued to hunt crypto’s core utility rails.”
The majority of the funding — round $2.55 billion throughout simply 16 offers — went to firms in asset administration, buying and selling platforms and crypto monetary providers. Infrastructure and growth companies adopted, elevating practically $955 million throughout 30 offers.
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Circle IPO might be crypto’s subsequent benchmark
PitchBook additionally mentioned that Circle’s anticipated IPO stands out as the most important crypto fairness pricing occasion since Coinbase’s 2021 debut.
If Circle secures a valuation above the rumored $4 billion to $5 billion vary, it “may due to this fact crowd in new late-stage capital and reset valuation expectations upward throughout the funds and infrastructure stack,” Le mentioned.
With $1.18 billion in VC funding raised to date, PitchBook estimates a 64% probability that Circle will finally go public.
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