Key Takeaways
- • Volt Capital, led by founder Soona Amhaz, closed a $50 million second fund with backing from Andreessen Horowitz partners Marc Andreessen and Chris Dixon, alongside angel investor Elad Gil, Union Square Ventures' Albert Wenger, Tiger Global, and Brevan Howard.
- • The fund maintains Volt's investment thesis across infrastructure, decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), with a strategic focus on pre-seed, seed, and Series A rounds often overlooked by larger venture firms.
- • Volt Capital previously launched a $10 million inaugural fund in April 2021 and served as an original contributor to the DeFi Alliance crypto accelerator program.
- • The fund deployment occurs amid a crypto market downturn, aligning with a16z's stated thesis that market downturns create optimal conditions for developer and startup development.
Summary
Volt Capital, a crypto-focused venture capital firm, has successfully raised $50 million for its second fund, securing commitments from a roster of prominent institutional investors and industry figures. The funding round reflects sustained institutional appetite for early-stage crypto infrastructure investments despite challenging market conditions in May 2022.
The investor syndicate includes Andreessen Horowitz General Partners Marc Andreessen and Chris Dixon, whose participation signals continued conviction in Volt's investment strategy among top-tier venture capital operators. Additional backers include angel investor Elad Gil, Union Square Ventures Managing Partner Albert Wenger, global investment firm Tiger Global, and European hedge fund manager Brevan Howard. This composition spans venture capital, hedge fund, and individual investor categories, indicating broad confidence in the fund's thesis.
Volt Capital, founded by Soona Amhaz, maintains a focused investment mandate centered on early-stage crypto projects in four primary categories: blockchain infrastructure, decentralized finance protocols, non-fungible token platforms, and decentralized autonomous organizations. Amhaz emphasized that Volt's competitive positioning lies in its willingness to deploy capital in pre-seed, seed, and Series A funding rounds—stages that larger venture firms frequently pass over. She articulated the fund's thematic focus as backing "founders who are reimagining systems and the rails that we use to do everyday activities," citing payments, online authentication, and video games as industries where crypto technology presents disruptive potential.
The new fund represents a five-fold increase from Volt Capital's inaugural $10 million fund, which launched in April 2021. The firm was also an original institutional contributor to DeFi Alliance, a crypto accelerator program. The timing of this fund close arrives as crypto markets experience significant headwinds, though this aligns with a16z's previously articulated investment thesis regarding price-innovation cycles—namely, that market downturns create conditions favorable for developer maturation and sustainable startup development.
The investor syndicate includes Andreessen Horowitz General Partners Marc Andreessen and Chris Dixon, whose participation signals continued conviction in Volt's investment strategy among top-tier venture capital operators. Additional backers include angel investor Elad Gil, Union Square Ventures Managing Partner Albert Wenger, global investment firm Tiger Global, and European hedge fund manager Brevan Howard. This composition spans venture capital, hedge fund, and individual investor categories, indicating broad confidence in the fund's thesis.
Volt Capital, founded by Soona Amhaz, maintains a focused investment mandate centered on early-stage crypto projects in four primary categories: blockchain infrastructure, decentralized finance protocols, non-fungible token platforms, and decentralized autonomous organizations. Amhaz emphasized that Volt's competitive positioning lies in its willingness to deploy capital in pre-seed, seed, and Series A funding rounds—stages that larger venture firms frequently pass over. She articulated the fund's thematic focus as backing "founders who are reimagining systems and the rails that we use to do everyday activities," citing payments, online authentication, and video games as industries where crypto technology presents disruptive potential.
The new fund represents a five-fold increase from Volt Capital's inaugural $10 million fund, which launched in April 2021. The firm was also an original institutional contributor to DeFi Alliance, a crypto accelerator program. The timing of this fund close arrives as crypto markets experience significant headwinds, though this aligns with a16z's previously articulated investment thesis regarding price-innovation cycles—namely, that market downturns create conditions favorable for developer maturation and sustainable startup development.
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