Hack VC
Hack VC is a thesis-driven, SEC-registered early-stage venture capital firm investing in crypto, AI, and frontier-technology founders from seed and Series A, supported by an internal R&D arm (hack.labs()), a 130,000-engineer developer community (hack.summit()), and an LP data room, with revenue from management fees, carried interest, and proprietary trading.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Hack VC does
Hack VC is a thesis-driven, early-stage venture capital firm registered with the U.S. SEC as Hack VC Management, LLC and headquartered in San Francisco. Founded in 2014, the firm invests at the seed and Series A stages in frontier-technology companies across crypto, AI, and adjacent infrastructure, partnering with founders "from idea to global scale." Since 2024 Hack VC has led or co-led more than a dozen rounds (e.g., Stable $28M seed, Opinion Labs $20M pre-Series A, Berachain, Nillion, Babylon, Hyperlane, Pharos, Exabits, Dinari, TAC, Block Street), spanning stablecoins, modular blockchain infrastructure, prediction markets, DeFi, privacy, and AI x crypto convergence.
The firm's core platform is built around three integrated modules: the venture fund itself; hack.labs(), an internal R&D arm composed of engineers, quant traders, and a venture studio that participates on-chain and incubates portfolio companies, and which functions as Hack VC's own first user; and hack.summit(), a Web3 developer community reaching 130,000+ engineers across 157 countries. The team of approximately 20-25 includes Managing Partner and co-founder Alexander Pack (ex-Dragonfly, Bain Capital), Partner/CTO Harrison Dahme (nine patents across AI, encryption, privacy-preserving technologies), Partners/Traders Ian Masters and Borna Shoa (quant trading and market microstructure), Research Partners Peyman Momeni and Chris Maree, Global Head of IR Alex Botte, and Global Head of BD Peter Hans, supported by venture partners and operating staff.
Hack VC generates revenue through standard venture fund economics — recurring management fees on LP commitments and performance-based carried interest — augmented by an internal liquid strategies desk that runs proprietary quant and DeFi trading. Pricing, fund terms, and commitment minimums are not publicly disclosed and are accessed via a gated LP Data Room, with LP qualification tiers including Qualified Purchaser and non-Qualified Purchaser. The firm also publishes investment theses, research, and portfolio news syndicated through Fortune, CoinDesk, The Block, Forbes, Barron's, Reuters, Decrypt, Blockworks, and The Defiant, and in March 2025 launched a community-aligned capital group via Echo to broaden its LP base.
Hack VC firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Hack VC
- Legal name
- Hack VC Management, LLC
- Website
- https://hack.vc
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Hack VC is a thesis-driven, SEC-registered early-stage venture capital firm investing in crypto, AI, and frontier-technology founders from seed and Series A, supported by an internal R&D arm (hack.labs()), a 130,000-engineer developer community (hack.summit()), and an LP data room, with revenue from management fees, carried interest, and proprietary trading.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Hack VC industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Venture Capital Management
- NAICS
- Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)
- SIC
- Investment Advice (6282)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists) (FSANAAAD)
Keywords
Where Hack VC is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Hack VC business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Investment vehicle management fees & carried interest: Hack VC Management, LLC is registered with the U.S. SEC as an investment adviser and manages private investment vehicles that raise capital from LPs. Revenue is generated via typical VC economics: recurring management fees on committed capital and performance-based carried interest on successful investments. Information is not publicly disclosed beyond the firm's SEC registration.
- Internal liquid trading strategies (proprietary): Hack VC runs its own liquid strategies desk led by Partners/Traders Ian Masters and Borna Shoa, generating trading P&L across DeFi and traditional market microstructure. Alex Pack and team also manage liquid token exposure alongside venture holdings.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | LP commitments — Qualified Purchaser & Accredited Investor tiers |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Hack VC product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Hack VC is a thesis-driven venture capital firm that invests at the earliest stages in founders building crypto, AI, and other frontier technologies. The core offering is its venture capital fund, supplemented by hack.labs(), an internal R&D arm and venture studio composed of engineers and quant traders, and hack.summit(), a Web3 developer community of more than 130,000 engineers from 157 countries. Revenue is generated through management fees on LP commitments, carried interest on successful investments, and proprietary internal liquid trading strategies.
Product overview
Hack VC delivers a single unified venture-capital platform composed of a core fund and three integrated modules: (1) the core Hack VC Venture Capital Fund, which has been investing in Web3 and AI founders from idea to global scale since 2014; (2) hack.labs(), the internal R&D arm and venture studio that incubates portfolio companies and conducts research; (3) hack.summit(), the Web3 developer community module reaching 130,000+ engineers across 157 countries; and (4) the LP Data Room, a gated investor portal providing existing LPs with diligence materials and quarterly fund updates. The Insights publication layer complements the fund by publishing investment theses, research, portfolio news, and media across crypto, AI, infrastructure, DeFi, privacy, and regulation topics. The platform serves as both a capital partner and a technical ecosystem builder, with partners holding patents in AI, encryption, and privacy-preserving technologies and conducting quant trading and protocol-level research.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- hack.labs(): Internal R&D arm of Hack VC, composed of engineers, quant traders, and an internal tech platform; capabilities include on-chain crypto network participation, a venture studio for incubations, and a research division.
- hack.summit()
Products and services
- Hack VC Venture Capital Fund A thesis-driven venture capital fund that invests at the earliest stages in founders building crypto, AI, and other frontier technologies; supports founders from idea to global scale with capital and hands-on operating support.
- hack.labs() Hack VC's internal R&D arm and venture studio, composed of engineers, quant traders, and an internal tech platform; conducts on-chain crypto network participation, incubates portfolio companies, and houses a research division, with hack.labs() acting as the firm's first users of its own products.
- hack.summit() A Web3 developer community platform run by Hack VC, reaching more than 130,000 engineers across 157 countries, used to build developer ecosystems around the firm's portfolio companies and frontier tech thesis.
- LP Data Room A gated investor portal providing existing Hack VC fund investors with access to fund diligence materials, AGM recordings, and quarterly investor updates.
- Hack VC Newsletter and Insights Publication A research and investment-thesis publication operated by Hack VC that distributes content across AI, infrastructure, tokens, DeFi, CeFi, fund, market, privacy, and regulation topics via the firm's website newsletter and major external media outlets.
Companies that use Hack VC
Customer profileIdeal customer profiles2 records
Hack VC technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Hack VC partnerships and signals
Strategic signalRecent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Hack VC competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Polychain Capital: One of the earliest crypto-native venture funds, investing across Web3 infrastructure, DeFi, and tokenized assets. Hack VC's Niraj Pant was a former General Partner at Polychain, and the firms frequently co-invest (e.g., Hack co-led Opinion's $20M round with Jump Crypto alongside Polychain's prior participation). Highly comparable in thesis, stage, and LP base.
- Dragonfly Capital: Crypto-native venture firm investing across Web3, DeFi, and infrastructure. Alex Pack co-founded Dragonfly prior to Hack VC, making this the most directly comparable peer in thesis, stage, and ecosystem positioning; both firms invest across similar token and equity rounds in the same geographies.
- Paradigm: Crypto-native investment firm focused on early-stage Web3 and crypto companies with deep technical research and a large dedicated research team. Competes with Hack VC for similar seed and Series A deals across crypto infrastructure, DeFi, and frontier crypto theses.
- Pantera Capital: Long-standing crypto-focused investment firm with multiple fund strategies spanning venture, liquid tokens, and early-stage tokens. Directly comparable as a multi-strategy crypto fund with overlapping LP base and competing for similar seed/Series A rounds.
- Multicoin Capital: Thesis-driven crypto investment firm investing across tokens and equity in Web3, DeFi, and crypto infrastructure. Directly comparable in early-stage crypto focus and in operating a liquid token book alongside venture investing — a structural analog to Hack VC's combined fund + trading desk.
- CoinFund: Crypto-native investment firm spanning venture, liquid, and early-stage strategies with research-led thesis development. Directly comparable in size, multi-strategy structure (venture plus liquid), and Web3 thesis focus.
- Variant Fund: Thesis-driven, crypto-native venture fund focused on ownership economies and Web3 networks. Comparable in early-stage Web3 focus, thesis-led investment approach, and founder-friendly operational support model.
Broad incumbents
- Andreessen Horowitz (a16z crypto): Generalist venture firm with a dedicated crypto fund, large operating partner bench, and substantial AUM. Overlaps with Hack VC on Web3 and crypto infrastructure deals but at materially larger check sizes and broader portfolio breadth — a broad incumbent in the same category.
- Galaxy Digital: Public crypto-focused financial services and investment management firm with venture, trading, and asset management arms. Comparable as a broader incumbent operating in similar crypto thesis areas with a diversified revenue base similar in concept to Hack VC's fund + liquid trading structure.
- Digital Currency Group: Holding company for a range of crypto businesses including a venture arm (DCG Ventures / Foundership). Hack VC's VP of Finance was previously Assistant Controller at DCG, indicating personnel overlap; broader incumbent with diversified crypto exposure.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Hack VC social profiles
Digital presenceHack VC compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Hack VC financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Hack VC leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles20 records
Hack VC funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors4 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Hack VC M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments304 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Hack VC
What does Hack VC do?
Hack VC is a thesis-driven venture capital firm that invests at the earliest stages in founders building crypto, AI, and other frontier technologies. The core offering is its venture capital fund, supplemented by hack.labs(), an internal R&D arm and venture studio composed of engineers and quant traders, and hack.summit(), a Web3 developer community of more than 130,000 engineers from 157 countries. Revenue is generated through management fees on LP commitments, carried interest on successful investments, and proprietary internal liquid trading strategies.
Is Hack VC a public or private company?
Hack VC is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Hack VC founded?
Hack VC was founded in 2014. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Hack VC based?
Hack VC is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Hack VC make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Investment vehicle management fees & carried interest is the primary driver. The others are internal liquid trading strategies (proprietary).
Who are Hack VC's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Polychain Capital, Dragonfly Capital, Paradigm, Pantera Capital, Multicoin Capital, CoinFund and Variant Fund. Broad incumbents are Andreessen Horowitz (a16z crypto), Galaxy Digital and Digital Currency Group.
Does Hack VC have an API?
No public API is recorded for Hack VC.
What industry is Hack VC in?
Hack VC's product category is Venture Capital Management. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSANAAAD, Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists). Its NAICS code is 523940 and its SIC code is 6282.