1kx

1kx is a crypto investment firm established in 2018, headquartered in Road Town, British Virgin Islands. The firm focuses on early-stage investments, partnering with innovative protocols, founders, and communities to foster the growth of the crypto ecosystem. By supporting startups in the web3 space, 1kx aims to help them scale their platforms and develop sustainable, community-driven networks.

Diana Biggs

Partner

Lasse Clausen

Founding Partner

Wei Dai Ph.D

Research Partner

Christopher Heymann

Founding Partner

Nichanan Kesonpat

Investment Analyst

Past deals in Smart Contracts

Miden

Seed Round in 2025
Miden grants applications the power to scale with public and private transactions.

Tally

Series A in 2025
Tally is a frontend for DAOs running on Ethereum and other EVM blockchains. Tally gives users real power in their decentralized organizations. On Tally, users can delegate voting power, create or pass proposals to spend DAO funds, manage a protocol, and upgrade smart contracts—all onchain.

Combinder

Pre Seed Round in 2025
Combinder is a technology company that operates a community-owned platform facilitating connectivity for Distributed Energy Resources (DERs). It offers a unified API for software developers to access and manage diverse smart devices, regardless of brand or type. The platform leverages AI to incentivize users with token rewards for connecting their devices to the global virtual power grid, fostering a decentralized energy network.

Ligero

Seed Round in 2025
Ligero, Inc. is a technology company based in Pittsford, New York, specializing in the development of a privacy platform for secure and confidential collaboration on and off blockchain. Incorporated in 2018, Ligero's offerings include a lightweight and scalable protocol that facilitates secure multiparty computation and zero-knowledge proofs. This enables clients to execute private smart contracts, engage in decentralized exchanges, and utilize private machine learning, thereby enhancing the security and privacy of transactions and collaborations in various digital environments.

Cryptio

Series A in 2025
Cryptio is a leading provider of enterprise-grade financial management solutions tailored for businesses operating in the cryptocurrency space. The company offers a comprehensive back-office platform that ensures financial integrity and accountability by transforming on-chain crypto activities, including decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), into auditable records suitable for accounting, reporting, treasury management, and tax filings. Cryptio's software automates the accounting process for digital assets, seamlessly integrating with existing financial systems to manage, report, and monitor daily transactions across various blockchain networks, wallets, exchanges, and custodians.

Predicate

Seed Round in 2024
Predicate is a network that simplifies transaction prerequisites to allow users and communities to define rules for on-chain interactions.

Layer

Seed Round in 2024
Ethereum is the settlement layer, build full stack decentralized apps on top with Web Assembly and the EVM.

Blockscout

Seed Round in 2024
Blockscout is an open-source blockchain explorer designed for use across any Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) chain. It enables projects to download and implement the explorer for their specific chains, allowing users to verify transactions, check balances, and view block confirmations and smart contracts. The platform serves as a comprehensive tool for accessing and validating transaction information, including all forks and side chains. By providing these capabilities, Blockscout enhances transparency, decentralization, and independent verification within the blockchain ecosystem, catering to the needs of developers and users alike.

Botto

Seed Round in 2024
Botto is a decentralized platform that harnesses artificial intelligence to create art, driven by community participation and feedback. The company operates through a framework of smart contracts, ensuring transparency and security in its processes. This includes managing token transactions, bank approvals, and Ethereum interactions. Botto allows its community to engage actively by presenting various art pieces and enabling members to vote on their favorites, fostering a collaborative environment for artistic expression. Through this innovative approach, Botto redefines the relationship between technology and art, empowering artists and art enthusiasts alike.

BuildBear Labs

Seed Round in 2024
BuildBear Labs is a specialized platform focused on providing Web3 development tools aimed at facilitating the testing of decentralized applications. The company is dedicated to creating an ecosystem that allows developers to rigorously test smart contracts in environments that closely replicate real-world blockchain conditions. By enabling continuous testing, BuildBear Labs ensures that smart contracts function as intended upon deployment. This approach not only addresses the common challenges faced by developers in the Web3 space but also promotes best practices such as continuous integration and continuous delivery. Additionally, the platform is designed to support multiple Ethereum-compatible chains, allowing users to customize their testing experiences and optimize their development processes. Ultimately, BuildBear Labs seeks to streamline Web3 application development, enhancing product quality and accelerating the adoption of decentralized applications.

FuzzLand

Seed Round in 2024
FuzzLand is a technology company specializing in AI-driven smart contract security. It offers an automated auditing platform that combines artificial intelligence, fuzzing, and formal verification to analyze and understand smart contracts. This platform enables clients, including builders, auditors, and traders, to swiftly assess and secure their smart contracts, thereby mitigating potential threats and vulnerabilities.

web3mine

Seed Round in 2023
Decentralized Storage and Compute staking

Nftperp

Series A in 2023
Nftperp is a company founded in January 2022, based in Washington, D.C., specializing in decentralized finance software for contract trading. It operates a perpetual decentralized exchange that allows users to speculate on the floor prices of prominent non-fungible token (NFT) projects, including well-known collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks. By providing a platform for trading blue-chip NFTs, nftperp leverages the growing significance of NFTs within the web3 ecosystem, catering to both investors and enthusiasts interested in the evolving digital asset landscape.

Rhinestone

Pre Seed Round in 2023
Rhinestone is a technology company developing a modular smart account infrastructure to enhance interoperability, security, and functionality in digital wallets. Its platform enables secure, permissionless innovation by providing tools for developers to create, distribute, and monetize self-contained modules, thereby offering advanced features to end-users and decentralized application (dapp) developers.

JokeRace

Seed Round in 2023
JokeRace, formerly known as JokeDAO, operates a decentralized governance platform that empowers communities to propose, vote on, and execute ideas. Utilizing blockchain technology, the platform facilitates various community-driven initiatives such as bounties, grants, and curation, allowing users to submit entries and vote on favorites, fostering a bottom-up approach to decision-making.

fxhash

Seed Round in 2023
At fxhash, we build tools that allow artists and collectors to live out their passion for generative art. Our platform facilitates an easy and safe space for artists, collectors, and curators to create generative art projects, buy, sell, and collect art — and share their collections with the world.

Superstate

Seed Round in 2023
Superstate is a developer of legal and blockchain-based financial solutions. These solutions include short-term government bond funds that can be held in a cryptocurrency wallet or by a crypto custodian.

Hydra Ventures

Seed Round in 2023
Hydra Ventures, established in 2022 and headquartered in San Francisco, specializes in supporting decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) within the web3 ecosystem. It offers investment solutions, incubation services, and strategic guidance tailored to DAO companies, fostering their growth and success in the rapidly evolving blockchain landscape.

Caldera

Funding Round in 2023
Caldera is a company that offers a no-code Web3 infrastructure platform aimed at developers seeking to create and manage layer-two blockchains. Its platform allows users to launch customizable blockchain rollups, providing flexible fee structures, including the option to eliminate transaction fees altogether. This approach enables clients to generate revenue through various means such as transaction fees, bridge fees, or miner extractable value (MEV). By supporting multiple programming languages, Caldera enhances the accessibility and usability of blockchain technology, enabling projects to operate efficiently while mitigating risks associated with fee spikes and network outages.

Alkimiya Protocol

Venture Round in 2023
Alkimiya Protocol is a developer of an open-source, permissionless platform that focuses on creating financial instruments backed by actual hash power production. The protocol utilizes smart contracts to enable miners to sell their future production rewards for a predetermined amount. This innovation allows users to design and deploy hash power-backed financial instruments from any location, leveraging the latest web and mobile technologies to generate revenue. By facilitating a new way for miners to monetize their production, Alkimiya Protocol aims to enhance the financial landscape within the cryptocurrency sector.

Matter Labs

Series C in 2022
Matter Labs is a blockchain technology company founded in 2018, with its headquarters in Berlin, Germany, and an additional presence in George Town, Cayman Islands. The company focuses on scaling Ethereum through the implementation of zero-knowledge proofs, which facilitate secure interactions between untrusted parties on the network. Matter Labs aims to enhance public blockchain adoption by providing solutions that improve scalability and privacy. Its technology allows decentralized applications to operate more efficiently while ensuring verifiable computation, enabling parties to prove integrity without compromising privacy. The company's mission is driven by a commitment to creating an open and free alternative to existing financial systems.

Safe

Venture Round in 2022
Safe is a leading provider of digital asset storage solutions, specializing in Ethereum-based multi-signature smart contract wallets. As a spin-out from Gnosis, a decentralized infrastructure provider, Safe offers a secure and programmable account abstraction platform, serving as the account abstraction leader on Ethereum and the EVM. Its flagship product, Gnosis Safe, enables secure and transparent management of digital assets, fostering collaboration and tracking within the decentralized ecosystem.

Safe

Series A in 2022
Safe is a leading provider of digital asset storage solutions, specializing in Ethereum-based multi-signature smart contract wallets. As a spin-out from Gnosis, a decentralized infrastructure provider, Safe offers a secure and programmable account abstraction platform, serving as the account abstraction leader on Ethereum and the EVM. Its flagship product, Gnosis Safe, enables secure and transparent management of digital assets, fostering collaboration and tracking within the decentralized ecosystem.

Safe

Initial Coin Offering in 2022
Safe is a leading provider of digital asset storage solutions, specializing in Ethereum-based multi-signature smart contract wallets. As a spin-out from Gnosis, a decentralized infrastructure provider, Safe offers a secure and programmable account abstraction platform, serving as the account abstraction leader on Ethereum and the EVM. Its flagship product, Gnosis Safe, enables secure and transparent management of digital assets, fostering collaboration and tracking within the decentralized ecosystem.

Playmint

Seed Round in 2022
Playmint is a game development studio focused on creating innovative games for the web3 era. The company specializes in developing games that incorporate player-owned economies, leveraging blockchain technology to provide players with complete control over their digital assets. By enabling players to earn or gain through their participation, Playmint aims to redefine the gaming experience in a decentralized environment.

Strider

Seed Round in 2022
Strider is a company that develops a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) platform aimed at leveraging community creativity to build story worlds and games more efficiently. The platform provides tools for creative production, including contributor payouts, creative bounties, proposal submissions, programmable treasury management, token issuance, tiered governance structures, and innovative user experience and voting mechanisms. This enables creators to ensure transparent ownership and compensation for all involved parties.

Galleon DAO

Seed Round in 2022
Galleon DAO is a guild of experienced methodologists aiming to research, design, and create best-in-class thematic, leverage, and yield-based structured products on-chain across all EVM-based networks.

Pocket Network

Venture Round in 2022
Pocket Network is a developer of decentralized infrastructure that facilitates the creation of blockchain applications. The company's platform enables users to connect their applications to any blockchain by directing them to a node that manages requests across the network. Additionally, Pocket Network allows developers to create custom plugins, which streamlines the integration and implementation of blockchain technology. This approach not only saves time and resources but also enhances the overall development process for blockchain applications.

Treasure

Seed Round in 2021
Treasure is developing a decentralized gaming platform aimed at connecting various metaverses and fostering community engagement through a unified ecosystem. The platform features a decentralized game console that integrates games and communities by utilizing a common set of resources. By adopting an open and composable approach, Treasure enables the convergence of non-fungible tokens, decentralized finance, and gaming, allowing players to earn and utilize currency while engaging with different games. Central to the Treasure ecosystem is a fair launch token that powers essential infrastructure and serves as a reserve asset across partner game integrations.

B.Protocol

Seed Round in 2021
B.Protocol is a developer of a decentralized backstop liquidity protocol aimed at enhancing the security and efficiency of lending platforms. The company's blockchain-powered platform seamlessly integrates with existing lending systems, allowing users to engage through a dedicated smart contract interface. This innovative approach provides users with priority in the liquidation process by offering a protective cushion to their accounts as they approach liquidation prices. By doing so, B.Protocol enables both lenders and borrowers to mitigate financial risks and improve effective interest rates, thereby unlocking higher capital efficiency within the decentralized finance landscape.

NFTFi

Seed Round in 2021
NFTfi is a peer-to-peer lending marketplace that specializes in NFT collateralized loans. It allows NFT holders to leverage their digital assets as collateral to secure cryptocurrency loans from lenders. When an NFT holder accepts a loan offer, the NFT is placed in a secure escrow smart contract while the corresponding cryptocurrency, such as wETH, DAI, or USDC, is transferred directly to the borrower's wallet. This innovative platform provides liquidity to NFT owners, enabling them to access cash without the need to sell their valuable digital assets. By utilizing a valuation approach similar to that of traditional art financing, NFTfi helps users determine the worth of their NFTs for loan purposes.

Futureswap

Funding Round in 2021
Futureswap is a company based in San Francisco, California, that specializes in developing a decentralized futures exchange platform utilizing blockchain technology. The platform operates on a non-custodial basis, enabling users to engage in the trading of crypto futures contracts. Futureswap employs an automated market-making (AMM) algorithm to facilitate these transactions, enhancing liquidity and efficiency in the trading process. With a focus on decentralized finance, Futureswap aims to provide a secure and user-friendly environment for trading perpetual futures in the cryptocurrency market.

Forefront

Seed Round in 2021
Forefront is the launchpad empowering web3 explorers to create at the frontier of tokenized communities.

Visor Finance

Seed Round in 2021
Visor Finance is a developer of a decentralized platform focused on active liquidity management. The company provides a platform that enables participants to utilize smart vaults for liquidity mining and the management of assets across various decentralized finance protocols and exchanges. By allowing users to create strategies, reinvest fees, and distribute protocol revenue, Visor Finance aims to help users maximize returns from fees while minimizing impermanent loss. Through its innovative approach, the company contributes to the evolving landscape of decentralized finance, enhancing the user experience in liquidity management.

RedStone

Pre Seed Round in 2021
RedStone is a next-generation cross-chain data oracle that specializes in providing pricing data for financial protocols. The company develops modular oracles that deliver data feeds compatible with both layer 1 and layer 2 blockchains, including rollups-as-a-service (RaaS) solutions. RedStone's offerings include liquid staking tokens and liquid restaking tokens, as well as an online decentralized finance platform designed to utilize blockchain's permanent storage capabilities. This platform supports cross-chain data services while ensuring an audit trail, which enhances transparency and reliability. Additionally, RedStone enables decentralized finance providers to implement automatic dispute mechanisms, bolstered by insurance through staking, thereby facilitating more secure and efficient transactions.

Index Coop

Seed Round in 2021
The Index Coop is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) and the largest provider of on-chain structured decentralized finance (DeFi) products. We’re on a mission to make DeFi simple, secure and accessible to everyone. Index Coop builds sector index products, leverage and inverse products, and yield-generating products, all built on Set Protocol’s twice-audited V2 infrastructure.

Set Labs

Series A in 2021
Set Labs is a company focused on advancing the future of finance through innovative crypto-financial solutions. It develops a cryptocurrency asset management protocol that allows users to create and exchange collateralized baskets of tokens. By utilizing a set of smart contracts and specifications, Set Labs enables the efficient and permissionless creation, bundling, and unbundling of crypto assets. This includes not only baskets of ERC20 tokens but also collections of non-fungible tokens and on-chain securities. The tools provided by Set Labs empower developers to construct diverse cryptocurrency baskets, facilitating a more versatile and accessible financial ecosystem.

Connext

Seed Round in 2021
Connext, Inc. is a software development company based in San Francisco, California, founded in 2017 by Arjun Bhuptani, Layne Haber, and Rahul Sethuram. The company specializes in creating an interoperability protocol that facilitates fast and fully-trustless communication between different blockchains. Its innovative technology aims to foster the formation of an interconnected network of blockchains, commonly referred to as the internet of blockchains. Additionally, Connext provides users with tools to purchase and manage blockchain applications, offering features such as direct card purchases for token acquisition, access to current vaults, decentralized compliance, and walletless signature capabilities.

Tally

Venture Round in 2021
Tally is a frontend for DAOs running on Ethereum and other EVM blockchains. Tally gives users real power in their decentralized organizations. On Tally, users can delegate voting power, create or pass proposals to spend DAO funds, manage a protocol, and upgrade smart contracts—all onchain.

SIREN

Seed Round in 2021
SIREN is a distributed protocol creating a decentralized blockchain exchange for options trading on Ethereum. The company is focused on creating a high-quality, seamless experience for sophisticated users and requires no third-party settling mechanism or order matching to complete option settlement on-chain. It allows for both buyers and sellers to mint, buy, and trade in and out of options positions at any time. SIREN was founded in 2020 and is based in San Francisco, CA.

NFTFi

Seed Round in 2021
NFTfi is a peer-to-peer lending marketplace that specializes in NFT collateralized loans. It allows NFT holders to leverage their digital assets as collateral to secure cryptocurrency loans from lenders. When an NFT holder accepts a loan offer, the NFT is placed in a secure escrow smart contract while the corresponding cryptocurrency, such as wETH, DAI, or USDC, is transferred directly to the borrower's wallet. This innovative platform provides liquidity to NFT owners, enabling them to access cash without the need to sell their valuable digital assets. By utilizing a valuation approach similar to that of traditional art financing, NFTfi helps users determine the worth of their NFTs for loan purposes.

Nexus Mutual

Venture Round in 2021
Nexus Mutual Limited is a London-based company that operates a decentralized insurance platform utilizing blockchain technology, specifically the Ethereum public blockchain. Founded in 2017, it offers a novel alternative to traditional insurance by enabling users to become members and collectively share insurance risks without the involvement of conventional insurance companies. Members can purchase coverage, and their decisions are governed by smart contracts, which ensure transparency and enforceability. Initially, Nexus Mutual launched with a product focusing on earthquake coverage, allowing participants to manage and mitigate risks collaboratively. The platform aims to recreate traditional mutual insurance models on a broader scale, providing an innovative approach to risk management in the insurance industry.

Verto

Pre Seed Round in 2021
Verto is a decentralized network that allows individuals to create and host their own trading posts for exchanging tokenized assets. Built on a blockweave infrastructure, Verto provides an open platform where developers can earn incentives through a unique mechanism that generates micro-dividends as long as their applications are active. This structure empowers users to select their preferred trading posts and facilitates the efficient trading of tokenized securities, promoting a more accessible and flexible exchange environment.

Matter Labs

Series A in 2021
Matter Labs is a blockchain technology company founded in 2018, with its headquarters in Berlin, Germany, and an additional presence in George Town, Cayman Islands. The company focuses on scaling Ethereum through the implementation of zero-knowledge proofs, which facilitate secure interactions between untrusted parties on the network. Matter Labs aims to enhance public blockchain adoption by providing solutions that improve scalability and privacy. Its technology allows decentralized applications to operate more efficiently while ensuring verifiable computation, enabling parties to prove integrity without compromising privacy. The company's mission is driven by a commitment to creating an open and free alternative to existing financial systems.

NIFTEX

Seed Round in 2020
NIFTEX is a platform that facilitates fractional ownership of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). It provides a self-service interface for investors to purchase fractions of various NFTs, including artwork, game assets, and personal brands. By enabling NFT owners to convert their assets into fungible fractions, NIFTEX allows them to sell portions of their NFTs, thereby increasing liquidity and making valuable assets more accessible to a wider audience in the NFT market.

Liquity

Seed Round in 2020
Liquity is a decentralized borrowing protocol built on the Ethereum blockchain that provides interest-free loans to users. By allowing borrowers to use Ethereum as collateral, Liquity issues loans in the form of its USD-pegged stable coin. The protocol operates with a minimum collateralization ratio, ensuring that loans are secured while enabling users to access liquidity without incurring interest charges. This innovative approach facilitates borrowing in a decentralized manner, aligning with the principles of blockchain technology.

Opyn

Seed Round in 2020
Opyn is a decentralized protocol focused on optimizing options trading for users interested in Ethereum and ERC20 assets. The platform allows users to earn premiums or express views on assets by trading options, specifically offering European, cash-settled options that automatically exercise upon expiry. As a pioneer in decentralized finance (DeFi), Opyn initially launched the first live ERC20 options protocol, enabling users to create, buy, and sell options on any ERC20 token. Its innovative offerings include the ability to trade option spreads and combos, enhancing capital efficiency for traders. Opyn v1 continues to operate on the Ethereum network, providing a venue for American, physically settled options while the company expands its range of ERC20 options. Through its commitment to inclusivity, fairness, and transparency, Opyn aims to enhance the trading experience within the decentralized finance ecosystem.

Eco

Seed Round in 2020
Eco Inc. is a financial technology company focused on enhancing the value of money through innovative software solutions. As a founding contributor to the Eco Protocol, the company aims to optimize financial transactions and promote efficient banking practices. Eco also develops Bend, a platform designed to offer rewarding financial solutions that align with the expectations of modern consumers. Through its commitment to improving how individuals interact with their finances, Eco seeks to drive a new standard for money management.

Matter Labs

Seed Round in 2019
Matter Labs is a blockchain technology company founded in 2018, with its headquarters in Berlin, Germany, and an additional presence in George Town, Cayman Islands. The company focuses on scaling Ethereum through the implementation of zero-knowledge proofs, which facilitate secure interactions between untrusted parties on the network. Matter Labs aims to enhance public blockchain adoption by providing solutions that improve scalability and privacy. Its technology allows decentralized applications to operate more efficiently while ensuring verifiable computation, enabling parties to prove integrity without compromising privacy. The company's mission is driven by a commitment to creating an open and free alternative to existing financial systems.

Beam

Pre Seed Round in 2018
Beam is a cryptocurrency company founded in 2017 and based in Tel-Aviv, Israel. It specializes in developing a confidential cryptocurrency wallet that utilizes the MimbleWimble protocol, designed for both mobile and desktop platforms. Beam offers users complete control over their privacy, allowing them to determine which information is shared and with whom, all while ensuring compliance with applicable laws. The platform features confidential transactions that do not bloat the blockchain, thus maintaining performance and scalability. Beam's technology avoids storing personal information about transaction participants on the blockchain, enhancing user anonymity. It employs the Equihash Proof-of-Work algorithm for mining and features a limited coin supply of approximately 250 million through periodic halving. The company's innovative approach also supports various transaction types, including escrow and atomic swaps, while promoting a compact blockchain size that improves overall scalability.

ælf

Venture Round in 2017
aelf, an AI-enhanced Layer 1 blockchain network, leverages the robust C# programming language for efficiency and scalability across its sophisticated multi-layered architecture. Founded in 2017 with its global hub in Singapore, aelf is a pioneer in the industry, leading Asia in evolving blockchain with state-of-the-art AI integration and modular Layer 2 ZK Rollup technology, ensuring an efficient, low-cost, and highly secure platform that is both developer and end-user friendly. Aligned with its progressive vision, aelf is committed to fostering innovation within its ecosystem and advancing Web3 and AI technology adoption.
Spot something off? Help us improve by flagging any incorrect or outdated information. Just email us at support@teaserclub.com. Your feedback is most welcome.