What Bankless Ventures does

Bankless Ventures is an early-stage venture capital fund focused on the Web3 and blockchain sector, founded in 2022 and based in Sheridan, United States. The firm deploys seed and Series A capital into startups building decentralized infrastructure, DeFi protocols, blockchain applications, and Web3 consumer products. Its portfolio of more than 50 companies spans Monad, 0G Labs, Hyperbolic, AltLayer, Movement, Ether.fi, Renzo, Puffer, and others, with recent disclosed investments in Megapot (crypto lottery on Base, $5M pre-seed, March 2026) and Tenbin Labs (RWA tokenization, $7M seed, January 2026).

The firm is anchored to the broader Bankless ecosystem — including the Bankless podcast, a research Substack with 24,000+ subscribers, the Bankless DAO, and a community events series at lu.ma/banklessvc — which serves as both a deal sourcing funnel and a portfolio marketing channel. The investment team comprises three General Partners (Ben Lakoff as GP/CFO with a CFA designation, Ryan Sean Adams, and David Hoffman), one Investment Partner, one Investment Associate, one Venture Partner, and one Operations lead.

The business model follows traditional venture fund economics: Bankless Ventures raises capital from limited partners (family offices, institutional investors, accredited individuals) and earns revenue through management fees (typically ~2% of committed capital) and performance carry (typically ~20% above the hurdle rate). The firm does not publicly disclose fund size, AUM, revenue, or LP composition, limiting external observability of its financial profile.

Name

Bankless Ventures

Legal name

Bankless Ventures

Website

https://bankless.ventures

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Bankless Ventures is an early-stage Web3 venture capital fund deploying seed and Series A capital into blockchain, DeFi, and crypto startups, anchored to the Bankless media and community ecosystem and serving institutional LPs seeking crypto venture exposure.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259), Other Financial Vehicles (525990), Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282), Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)

Keywords

• Venture capital fund
• Web3 investments
• Early-stage funding
• Blockchain venture capital
• Crypto venture fund

Headquarters

HQ city

Sheridan

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Fund Management: Bankless Ventures generates revenue through traditional VC fund economics: management fees (typically 2% of committed capital) and performance carry (typically 20% of profits above the hurdle rate). Revenue is earned as the fund deploys capital, manages portfolio companies, and eventually exits investments.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Bankless Ventures is an early-stage venture capital fund that invests in Web3 and blockchain startups, typically leading or co-leading seed and Series A rounds. The firm raises capital from Limited Partners (LPs) and deploys it across a portfolio of 50+ Web3 companies spanning decentralized infrastructure, DeFi protocols, blockchain applications, and crypto consumer products. The fund also produces research, theses, and market intelligence through its Substack publication and hosts community events.

Product overview

Bankless Ventures is a venture capital fund focused on Web3 and decentralized technology startups. The firm provides investment capital and support to early-stage blockchain and cryptocurrency companies, as reflected in its portfolio of over 50 portfolio companies including 0G Labs, Monad, Movement, Hyperbolic, Ether.fi, Puffer, Renzo, and others. The firm is managed by General Partners Ryan Sean Adams, David Hoffman, and Ben Lakoff, and offers research publications through its Substack and coordinates industry events.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bankless Ventures Fund

Quantifiable outcome

• 24,000+ newsletter subscribers
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• 1confirmation: 1confirmation is an early-stage crypto venture fund backing Web3 infrastructure and applications from seed onward. Closely comparable on fund size, stage focus, and thesis-driven investing in crypto-native founders.
• Dragonfly Capital: Dragonfly is a crypto-native venture firm investing across Web3 infrastructure, DeFi, and applications. Direct comparable — same stage focus, similar thematic concentration, and a documented co-investor with Bankless Ventures in rounds like Megapot and 0G Labs.
• Multicoin Capital: Multicoin is a thesis-driven crypto investment firm focused on Web3 infrastructure, DeFi, and crypto-native applications. Direct comparable on stage, thematic focus, and target founder profile.
• Nascent: Nascent is a thesis-driven crypto venture and liquidity firm investing across Web3 infrastructure and DeFi. Direct comparable on thesis and stage, and a documented co-investor alongside Bankless Ventures.
• Galaxy Ventures: Galaxy Ventures is the venture arm of Galaxy Digital, focused on early-stage Web3 and crypto infrastructure. Comparable stage and thesis, and a documented co-investor leading rounds that Bankless Ventures participates in (e.g., Tenbin Labs).
• Variant Fund: Variant is an early-stage crypto venture fund investing in Web3 infrastructure, DeFi, and consumer crypto. Highly comparable stage and thesis, and a documented co-investor alongside Bankless Ventures in rounds like Tenbin Labs.

Broad incumbents

• Andreessen Horowitz (a16z crypto): a16z crypto is the dedicated Web3/crypto arm of a16z, investing across the full crypto stack with massive AUM. Comparable thesis overlap (Web3 infrastructure, applications) but at a fundamentally larger scale with broader portfolio construction.
• Coinbase Ventures: Coinbase Ventures is the corporate venture arm of Coinbase, investing broadly across early-stage Web3 startups. Comparable on stage and sector focus, but operates as a strategic CVC with effectively unlimited capacity — a frequent co-investor with Bankless Ventures.
• Paradigm: Paradigm is one of the largest crypto-native venture firms investing across Web3 infrastructure, DeFi, and crypto applications. Highly comparable as a thesis-driven crypto VC, though materially larger in AUM and team size.
• Pantera Capital: Pantera is one of the longest-standing crypto-native investment firms, deploying across venture, liquid tokens, and early-stage Web3 startups. Overlapping investment universe but broader asset class coverage and larger AUM.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/banklessvc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bankless-vc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments53 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bankless Ventures