Prepared for Daxos Capital · July 31, 2026
Crypto and frontier first. Funds that invest as early as we do, pre-seed and incubation, the first check or earlier, and whose thesis is crypto/web3 first or frontier, deep tech, robotics and AI infra second. Generalists and other sector funds came off on 8/25. This is a list of peers to talk to, not sell to.
First-check funds, studios, accelerators and angel groups. Start here.
| Firm | Base | Type · Stage | Focus | Contact | Why they fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notation Capitalnotation.vc | Brooklyn, NY | Pre-seed VCPre-seed, leads ~$0.5-1M | Technical, infra | mackenzie@notationcapital.com | NYC pre-seed first-money fund for hard-tech and infra teams. |
| 2048 Ventures2048.vc | New York, NY | Pre-seed VCLeads pre-seed $0.5-2M | Frontier, B2B, data | paul@2048.vc | States it leads first rounds at $500K-2M; first-check by design. |
| Betaworksbetaworks.com | New York, NY | StudioIncubation / pre-seed | AI, crypto | jborthwick@betaworks.com | Incubates AI and crypto startups via its Camp cohorts. |
| AlleyCorpalleycorp.com | New York, NY | StudioIncubation / first money | AI, healthcare, robotics | kevin.ryan@alleycorp.com | Starts companies from zero, then writes the first check. |
| Factorial Capitalfactorialcap.com | Brooklyn, NY | Pre-seed VCPre-seed, prototype-stage | AI | matt@factorialcap.com | Backs AI startups at the prototype on a technical read; first check by design. |
| Alliancealliance.xyz | New York, NY | AcceleratorPre-seed cohorts | Crypto / web3 | simon@alliance.xyz | Web3 accelerator with a Demo Day; enters before institutional money. |
| Lattice Ventureslattice.vc | New York, NY | Pre-seed VCPre-seed / seed | Fintech, AI, infra, crypto | brittany@lattice.vc | NYC first-check fund for network-effect companies. |
| Not Boring Capitalnotboring.co | New York, NY | Solo-GP / rollingPre-seed / seed | Generalist, web3 | packy@notboring.co | Packy McCormick's solo-GP fund making small early checks. |
| Newlabnewlab.com | Brooklyn, NY | Venture studioIncubation / pre-seed | Deep tech, climate, energy | david.belt@newlab.com | Studio that incubates and first-funds hard-tech founders. |
| Pareto Holdingsparetoholdings.com | New York, NY | Venture studioIncubation / pre-seed | Fintech, crypto | edward@pareto20.com | Builds and funds companies from day zero; the closest model to Daxos. |
| Robot Venturesrobvc.com | New York, NY | Solo-GP / microPre-seed / seed | Crypto, fintech | michael@robvc.com | Small early checks into crypto and fintech (Leshner, Chitra). |
| Symbolic Capitalsymbolic.capital | New York, NY | Micro-fundPre-seed / seed | Crypto / web3 | kenzi@symbolic.capital | Backs web3 founders at the earliest stage. |
| Third Spherethirdsphere.com | New York, NY | Pre-seed VCPre-seed | Climate, hardware, urban | stonly@thirdsphere.com | Early climate fund backing hardware founders at first check. |
| Tachyon (Consensys Mesh)mesh.xyz | Brooklyn, NY | AcceleratorPre-seed cohorts | Crypto / web3 | — (verify) | Consensys Mesh accelerator writing first checks into web3 teams. Harmonic: Brooklyn, 5 staff on the Mesh side. |
| Firm | Base | Type · Stage | Focus | Contact | Why they fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delphi Ventures / Labsdelphidigital.io | Miami Beach, FL | Research + incubationIncubation / pre-seed | Crypto / web3 | — (verify) | Delphi Labs incubates protocols out of the research shop. Harmonic: Miami Beach, 55 staff. |
| Firm | Base | Type · Stage | Focus | Contact | Why they fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pygmapygma.vc | Remote / LatAm | AcceleratorPre-seed cohorts | Blockchain, early founders | andres@pygma.co | Hands-on pre-seed accelerator feeding crypto founders. |
| Boost VCboost.vc | San Mateo, CA | AcceleratorPre-seed | Crypto, frontier, robotics, space | adam@boost.vc | Pre-seed accelerator cutting first checks into crypto and frontier hardware. |
| 1517 Fund1517fund.com | Telluride, CO | Micro-fundPre-seed first check | Deep tech, frontier science | michael@1517fund.com | First-check fund for deep-tech and frontier founders. |
| Cantoscantos.vc | San Francisco, CA | Micro-fundPre-seed | Frontier / deep tech | amee@cantos.vc | Writes the first institutional check into frontier and deep tech. |
| Orange DAOorangedao.xyz | San Francisco, CA | AcceleratorPre-seed | Crypto / web3 | — (site form) | Web3 pre-seed accelerator run by YC alumni; direct crypto overlap. |
| a16z CSXa16zcrypto.com | Menlo Park / NYC | Accelerator programPre-seed program | Crypto / web3 | — (verify) | Crypto startup accelerator; pre-seed program only, the main fund is later. |
| Seed Clubseedclub.xyz | Remote | DAO acceleratorPre-seed cohorts | Crypto, DAO tooling | — (verify) | Web3 community accelerator. Harmonic: 3 staff, Cayman entity. |
| Outlier Venturesoutlierventures.io | London, UK | AcceleratorPre-seed Base Camp | Crypto / web3 | — (verify) | Largest web3 accelerator; Base Camp enters pre-seed. Harmonic: 99 staff. |
| YZi Labs (ex-Binance Labs)yzilabs.com | Malta / global | IncubationIncubation / pre-seed | Crypto / web3 | — (verify) | Binance Labs successor; incubation program enters earliest. Harmonic: 121 staff. |
| Founders Incf.inc | San Francisco, CA | Studio / fundDay-zero / pre-seed | Frontier, AI, hardware | — (verify) | Day-zero fund and space for frontier builders. Harmonic: SF, 191 in orbit. |
| Fifty Yearsfiftyyears.com | San Francisco, CA | Pre-seed VCPre-seed first check | Deep tech, hard science | — (verify) | First checks into science companies. Harmonic: SF, 41 in network. |
| Pillar VCpillar.vc | Boston, MA | Early VCPre-seed / seed, frontier track | Frontier, bio, AI | — (verify) | Boston early fund with a frontier/hard-science track. Harmonic: 55 in network. |
Genuinely early but they lead seed (sub-$25M), so a step later than Analog. Worth knowing, not the priority.
| Firm | Base | Type · Stage | Focus | Contact | Why they fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compoundcompound.vc | New York, NY | Seed VCLeads seed $1-5M | Frontier, crypto, deep tech | david@compound.vc | Genuinely early but leads priced seed; deep-tech vals can top $25M. |
| Variantvariant.fund | New York, NY | Crypto VCLeads pre-seed / seed | Crypto / web3 | jesse@variant.fund | Leads pre-seed/seed, but the ~$450M fund now pushes valuations up. |
| North Island Venturesnorthisland.ventures | New York, NY | Crypto VCPre-seed / seed | Crypto | travis@northisland.ventures | Small early crypto fund; leads seed, dips pre-seed. |
| Reciprocal Venturesrecvc.com | New York, NY | Crypto VCPre-seed / seed | Crypto / web3 infra | craig@recvc.com | Early-stage crypto first checks, sub-$25M. |
| Collab+Currencycollabcurrency.com | New York, NY | Crypto VCPre-seed / seed | Crypto, gaming, AI | steve@collabcurrency.com | Small early crypto fund; plays pre-seed and seed. |
| Volt Capitalvolt.capital | New York, NY | Crypto VCPre-seed / seed | Crypto infra | devin@volt.capital | Small crypto fund backing early protocols. |
| Maccabee Venturesmaccabee.vc | New York, NY | Early VCPre-seed / seed | B2B, deep tech | mbellows@maccabee.vc | Small early fund; plays pre-seed and seed. |
| TechFarms Capitaltechfarmscapital.com | Panama City Beach, FL | Seed VCSeed-stage | Tech, deep tech | jkingsbury@techfarmscapital.com | Self-described seed-stage funder; sub-$25M but seed not pre-seed. |
These are stage-fit peers, but you're already talking to them through the DD dossier project. Handle there; don't cold-approach twice.