{"id":129679,"date":"2025-05-21T07:15:27","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T07:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=129679"},"modified":"2025-05-21T07:15:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T07:15:27","slug":"theta-capital-raises-175m-to-back-early-stage-blockchain-startups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=129679","title":{"rendered":"Theta Capital raises $175M to back early-stage blockchain startups"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsAmsterdam-based Theta Capital Management has raised over $175 million for its latest fund-of-funds, aimed at supporting early-stage blockchain startups through specialized venture capital (VC) firms.<br \/>\nThe new vehicle, Theta Blockchain Ventures IV, will channel capital into crypto-native VC firms with a track record in backing blockchain innovation, Theta\u2019s managing partner and chief investment officer Ruud Smets told Bloomberg.<br \/>\nSmets said the strategy focuses on specialist managers who can outperform generalist investors in the earliest funding rounds.<br \/>\n\u201cWe\u2019ve always been looking for areas where specialization and active management provide a sustainable edge,\u201d Smets noted. He said that the experience and positioning of dedicated crypto VCs \u201chas compounded over time,\u201d creating barriers for less focused investors trying to enter the space.<br \/>\nFounded in 2001, Theta shifted its focus to digital assets in 2018 and now manages approximately $1.2 billion. The firm has previously backed leading crypto investment names such as Polychain Capital, CoinFund and Castle Island Ventures.<br \/>\nSource: Theta CapitalRelated: AI takes nearly 60% of global venture capital dollars in Q1<br \/>\nCrypto VC deals rebound<br \/>\nThe fund\u2019s close comes as crypto venture capital begins to rebound. According to Galaxy Digital, VC investment in digital assets rose 54% in the first quarter 2025 to $4.8 billion, signaling renewed confidence in the sector after a prolonged downturn.<br \/>\nAnother report from PitchBook revealed that crypto venture capital funding surged in early 2025, even as deal activity declined.<br \/>\nThe report showed that 405 VC deals were completed in Q1 2025, a 39.5% drop from the 670 recorded in the same period last year. However, that\u2019s a modest uptick from the 372 deals seen in Q4 2024.<br \/>\nDespite fewer deals, total funding more than doubled year-over-year, reaching $6 billion in Q1 compared to $2.6 billion in Q1 2024 and doubling from the previous quarter\u2019s $3 billion.<br \/>\nPitchBook\u2019s senior crypto analyst Robert Le noted that even amid macroeconomic uncertainty, \u201ccapital continued to seek crypto\u2019s core utility rails.\u201d<br \/>\nThe bulk of the investment \u2014 around $2.55 billion across just 16 deals \u2014 went into companies in asset management, trading platforms and crypto financial services. Infrastructure and development firms followed, raising nearly $955 million across 30 deals.<br \/>\nWeb3-focused companies saw the third-most deals and funding, at 23 and $231.2 million, respectively. Source: PitchBook.Related: Crypto startups scaring away VCs with 80x valuations: 10T Holdings<br \/>\nCircle IPO could be crypto\u2019s next benchmark<br \/>\nPitchBook also said that Circle\u2019s anticipated IPO could be the most significant crypto equity pricing event since Coinbase\u2019s 2021 debut.<br \/>\nIf Circle secures a valuation above the rumored $4 to $5 billion range, it \u201ccould therefore crowd in new late-stage capital and reset valuation expectations upward across the payments and infrastructure stack,\u201d Le said.<br \/>\nWith $1.18 billion in VC funding raised so far, PitchBook estimates a 64% chance that Circle will ultimately go public.<br \/>\nMagazine: NBA star Tristan Thompson misses $32B in Bitcoin by taking $82M contract in cash<a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/theta-raises-175m-to-back-crypto-vc-firms-as-sector-rebounds?utm_source=rss_feed&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"feedzy-rss-link-icon\" rel=\"noopener\">Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsAmsterdam-based Theta Capital Management has raised over $175 million for its latest fund-of-funds, aimed at supporting early-stage blockchain startups through specialized venture capital (VC) firms. The new vehicle,&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129679"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=129679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129679\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=129679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=129679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=129679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}