What dlab does

dlab is a discovery-stage venture capital firm providing pre-seed funding and hands-on operational support to technical founders building infrastructure and applications in the web3 and blockchain space. Founded in late 2018 as the crypto-focused startup development program within SOSV's deep tech fund, dlab spun out as an independent fund starting in 2024, with SOSV continuing as the anchor limited partner. The firm invests on a protocol-agnostic, global basis from pre-seed through Series A, having built a portfolio of approximately 24 companies spanning DeFi data oracles (API3), on-chain derivatives (Contango, Daler Trading), crypto private credit (Credit Coop), decentralized physical infrastructure networks (WeatherXM), smart contract security (Dowsers), passwordless authentication (Crayonic), ZK compression (Light Protocol), and AI agents with native crypto support (Shinkai).

The firm does not develop a core technology product or platform; its operating activity is investment selection, capital deployment, and portfolio support. Distribution is conducted through direct outreach to founders via [email protected], content marketing via the firm blog, and an active Twitter/X presence (@dlabvc), with portfolio showcases serving as the principal mid-funnel reference. Revenue is generated through investment returns — equity and token ownership in portfolio companies — rather than product pricing, with realization dependent on portfolio exits, token appreciation, and follow-on funding rounds from larger investors such as Lightspeed Faction and Maven 11.

The team is small (1–10 employees) and based in New York, with portfolio reach spanning 80+ countries via portfolio deployments. Strategic positioning emphasizes crypto-native expertise, sector specialization, and operational involvement rather than capital scale, competing for deal flow against other crypto-focused seed investors rather than generalist VCs.

Name

dlab

Website

https://dlab.vc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

dlab is a discovery-stage venture capital firm that provides pre-seed funding and operational support to technical founders building web3 and blockchain infrastructure. Founded in 2018 within SOSV, it spun out as an independent fund in 2024, with a portfolio of approximately 24 companies across DeFi, DePIN, and AI-crypto sectors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Crypto/Web3 Venture Capital

NAICS

Trusts, Estates, and Agency Accounts (525920)

SIC

Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200)

akta.pro primary industry

RWA Tokenization Platforms (asset onboarding, structuring, issuance) (FSAPAIAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Interoperability & Cross-Chain Infrastructure (Bridges, Messaging, Atomic Swaps) (FSAGAMAI), Tokenized Securities & Capital Markets Infrastructure (equities, bonds, funds, ATS/MTF connectivity) (FSAPAIAD)

Keywords

• Venture capital funding
• Pre-seed investments
• Web3 startups
• Blockchain technology
• Crypto venture capital

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Investment Returns: DLAB generates returns through equity and token investments in early-stage web3 and crypto startups. Returns realized through portfolio company exits, token appreciation, and follow-on funding rounds from larger investors.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

dlab is a discovery-stage venture capital firm that invests in early-stage (pre-seed through Series A) web3 and crypto startups and provides hands-on operational support to founders. The firm backs technical founders building decentralized infrastructure and novel applications, including DeFi, DePIN, on-chain trading, smart contract security, identity, and crypto-native consumer products, taking equity or token ownership stakes in exchange for capital.

Product overview

dlab is a discovery-stage venture capital firm focused on web3 and blockchain technology. The company provides pre-seed funding and hands-on operational support to founders building decentralized infrastructure and novel applications. Rather than offering a unified product platform, dlab operates as a financial services and investment firm, deploying capital into a portfolio of portfolio companies across the crypto and web3 ecosystem. Their portfolio spans diverse sectors including DeFi data oracles (API3), on-chain derivatives trading (Contango, Daler Trading), crypto private credit (Credit Coop), decentralized physical infrastructure networks (WeatherXM), and various other web3 infrastructure and application companies. The firm does not sell products directly but rather provides venture capital and strategic support to early-stage startups.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Discovery-Stage Venture Capital (Pre-seed to Series A)

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Coinbase Ventures: Strategic venture arm of Coinbase, investing across early-stage web3 infrastructure and applications. Comparable as a sector specialist, but benefits from strategic distribution advantages through the Coinbase platform.
• Andreessen Horowitz (a16z Crypto): Largest institutional crypto venture practice with multi-stage strategies across consumer, infra, and DeFi. Comparable to dlab as a web3 specialist, but operates at significantly greater scale and broader mandate.
• Digital Currency Group: Vertically integrated crypto holding company operating venture, trading, custody, and media. Overlaps with dlab's venture thesis while operating at much greater scale across the crypto stack.

Direct peers

• Multicoin Capital: Crypto-focused thesis-driven venture fund backing early-stage web3 infrastructure and application layers. Highly comparable to dlab in stage, sector focus, and conviction-driven approach.
• Maven 11: Crypto-focused investment firm backing early-stage blockchain infrastructure and DeFi. Comparable to dlab in stage focus, thesis-driven approach, and active co-investment syndicate partner.
• Paradigm: Premier crypto-native investment firm focused on early-stage web3 companies and protocols. Directly comparable to dlab as a specialist crypto fund targeting category-defining infrastructure.
• Pantera Capital: One of the largest crypto-native venture funds, investing across the full web3 stack from early-stage tokens to liquid venture. Directly comparable to dlab as a specialist crypto VC with multi-stage strategies.
• Lightspeed Faction: Crypto-focused spinout from Lightspeed Venture Partners investing in early-stage web3 infrastructure. Directly comparable as a co-investor alongside dlab and a peer in the crypto VC landscape.
• Framework Ventures: Early-stage crypto venture fund focused on DeFi infrastructure, gaming, and token economies. Comparable to dlab in stage focus and protocol-agnostic web3 specialization.
• Polychain Capital: Crypto-native fund investing in early-stage blockchain protocols and applications. Comparable to dlab in deep specialization on the web3 stack and early-stage conviction bets.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/dlabvc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments42 records

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

Frequently asked questions about dlab