Venture Firm Chapter One Launching Crypto-Focused Incubator
Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.
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While some skeptics argue that crypto is a trend, venture investors like Chapter One are betting that it’s here to stay.
After raising a $40 million fund in December to back early-stage Web3 startups, the Los Angeles-based venture capital firm has launched a crypto-focused incubator called Chapter One Studios, TechCrunch reported Wednesday. The six-month program starts in April and will provide three startups with a $1 million investment and the option to work out of Chapter One’s L.A. office; in exchange, the venture firm will take a 15% stake in each of the companies.
Founded in 2017 by former Tinder product chief Jeff Morris Jr., Chapter One has invested over 50 companies in its investment portfolio, including crypto payment platform Moonpay and crypto exchange FTX.
Morris told TechCrunch that one goal of the program is to give crypto startup founders the resources to reach product-market fit, without having to worry about the stresses of fundraising.
“While there are a lot of funds that participate in things like governance or liquidity or market-making, there wasn’t a fund that was entirely focused on usability and making crypto more accessible,” Morris said.
Representatives for Chapter One did not return a request for comment.
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Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.
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