Haun Ventures Capitalizes on Bitcoin’s Surging Popularity and Value

Haun Ventures ⁣Leads $5M Seed Round in ⁤DAO⁢ Governance Platform⁤ Agora

Cautious Approach During Crypto Downturn

When Haun Ventures launched in 2021 with $1.5 billion across​ two funds, the ‌crypto ⁢market​ was thriving. However, the subsequent crash and the ‍ FTX ‌collapse led the firm⁣ to adopt a more cautious‍ approach, despite having significant dry powder. Many ‌wondered when Haun ⁢Ventures⁣ would increase its investment pace.

Picking Up the Pace as Bitcoin Rebounds

As bitcoin prices have recovered to previous highs, Haun Ventures’ investment activity has surged. ​The firm has‌ made 48 ​investments across ⁤its ​early-stage $500 million and $1 billion later-stage ⁤acceleration funds, including token positions.

Streamlining‍ DAO Governance with Agora

Haun Ventures’ latest⁣ investment is ⁤a $5 million seed round in Agora, an app that simplifies voting and decision-making for decentralized​ autonomous organizations (DAOs). Sam Rosenblum, a partner ⁣and investment team​ lead at Haun Ventures, highlighted the lack of a user-friendly interface for DAO members to approve software upgrades and participate in governance‍ as a significant obstacle.

Historically, if you wanted to participate in resource allocation of a ⁢protocol treasury, you had to do a bunch of on-chain actions yourself, which probably‍ means ​you have hardware ‌and software setup ⁣that most​ people don’t have.

Agora ‌addresses this issue by providing an easy-to-use community and protocol governance solution, making DAO participation accessible to non-technical users. Rosenblum likened Agora ​to Coinbase,⁤ which ⁤simplified coin ⁢trading for the masses.

Experienced Founders ⁣and ⁤Adoption ​by‌ Major Protocols

Founded in 2022 by ‌Charlie Feng ⁢(co-founder ‍of fintech⁢ Clearco), ⁤Yitong Zhang​ (Coinbase product‍ designer), and Kent Fenwick (software engineer), Agora is already ⁣used by protocols such as Optimism, ENS, ⁤and Uniswap. These protocols ⁢are‌ willing to pay for Agora as it ⁢helps‌ lower the barrier⁢ to community participation.

Continued Investment into ‍Next Year

While Rosenblum ⁣did not specify when Haun⁢ Ventures will ​finish deploying its current fund, ⁣he indicated that ​investing will ‌continue into the‍ next year as activity in the crypto⁤ world​ accelerates.