Traditional technology and the crypto world are gradually merging.
Author: Jeff John Roberts
Translation: Deep Tide TechFlow
Hello everyone, it's Friday, and I'm finance editor Jeff Roberts, stepping in for Ellie today to bring you an article. Since moving to Southern California two years ago, I've been amazed by the thriving venture capital scene here—seemingly less covered by the media compared to Silicon Valley and New York. Recently, I interviewed a veteran in this field—Adam Winnick.
Winnick is a vibrant person, possessing one of the most important traits of a venture capitalist: the ability to gather influential people. The last time I met him was at a dinner hosted by Medici Network, an institutional investor conference focused on the crypto space, bringing together a diverse group from startup founders to bankers, as well as representatives from Ivy League endowments and sovereign wealth funds.
The dinner took place at Avra restaurant in Beverly Hills. As someone who has attended many similar events, I noticed that, aside from the excellent Mediterranean cuisine, the atmosphere of this event felt very "normal." Once upon a time, those participating in crypto events considered themselves outsiders, while the venture capital industry viewed crypto investing as a completely different species, playing by a unique set of rules.
But I'm not sure if that perception still holds.
Today, crypto investment feels more like a branch of the venture capital field, although there are still some obvious differences—especially in terms of revenue models. Traditional venture capital typically involves acquiring a batch of shares from startups and then waiting around seven years for a return; whereas the world of crypto venture capital is more fluid, revolving around tokens rather than shares.
In the early days, the combination of crypto and venture capital led to some extreme behaviors—such as venture firms hoarding tokens linked to "half-baked" projects and then selling them to retail investors. However, stricter lock-up periods recently have curbed some of the worst behaviors, and upcoming clear regulations are expected to further improve the situation.
Winnick is a staunch supporter of the token model. He believes, "It's a powerful incentive mechanism that can kickstart network effects. Just because someone misuses it today, or because it was not used correctly in the early days, doesn't mean it won't be better utilized in the future."
If, as Winnick predicts, traditional technology and the crypto world gradually merge, then tokens are likely to become a more common feature in the venture capital field. Winnick states that in this merging process, the winners will be those who can combine the mature technological architecture and extensive business networks of so-called Web2 with the highly technical and low capital intensity dynamics of Web3.
Winnick, a former banker, along with co-founder Kamal Mokeddem, a former Oracle developer, seems to have found a way to crack the code of crypto investment. Their company, Finality Capital Partners, saw its first $45 million fund achieve an internal rate of return (IRR) of 69% by the end of last year, and they have made Series A investments in promising crypto staking projects like EigenLayer and Babylon.
Meanwhile, although still in its early stages, the fund's second investment vehicle, Liquid Fund, has already risen by 12% this year, while many other funds have seen flat or negative returns in the first few months of 2025.
Although Finality Capital cannot compare to crypto venture capital giants like a16z and Haun Ventures, the progress made by its partners indicates they have found their niche—Winnick attributes this achievement to his willingness to provide candid advice and maintain direct contact with the companies in their portfolio.
Venture Capital Dynamics
Senra Systems: The aerospace and defense harness developer based in Redondo Beach, California, completed a $25 million Series A funding round. This round was led by Dylan Field and CIV, with follow-on investments from General Catalyst, Sequoia, Founders Fund, and others.
Mercanis: The Berlin-based procurement solution provider based on agent AI completed a $20.4 million Series A funding round. Partech and AVP led the round, with existing investors Signals.VC, Capmont Technology, Speedinvest, and angel investors participating.
Tadaweb: The Luxembourg-based open information and open-source intelligence operating system provider completed a $20 million funding round. Arsenal Growth and Forgepoint Capital led the round, with existing investor Forgepoint Capital International participating.
Swarmia: The Helsinki-based software engineering intelligence platform developer completed a €10 million (approximately $11.5 million) funding round. DIG Ventures and Karma Ventures led the round, with Romain Huët and Cal Henderson participating.
Polar: The Stockholm-based SaaS enterprise payment infrastructure provider completed a $10 million seed funding round. Accel led the round, with angel investors participating.
Brandback: The Berlin-based resale infrastructure provider completed a $7.4 million funding round. Earlybird led a $5.7 million seed round, with 9900 Capital and other investors participating; 9900 Capital also led a $1.7 million pre-seed round, with angel investors participating.
Embedl: The Gothenburg, Sweden-based AI inference optimization technology company completed a €5.5 million (approximately $6.3 million) pre-Series A funding round, with investors including Chalmers Ventures, Fairpoint Capital, SEB Greentech, and others.
Project Eleven: The New York-based quantum technology company completed a $6 million seed funding round, led by Variant and Quantonation, with Castle Island Ventures, Nebular, and Formation participating.
Swebal: The Stockholm-based TNT company completed a €3 million (approximately $3.4 million) funding round, with investors including Karl Engelbrektson, Thomas von Koch, Pär Svärdson, and others.
SportsVisio: The Boston-based AI-driven sports analytics company completed a $3.2 million funding round, with investors including Mighty Capital, Sony Innovation Fund, Alumni Ventures, Waterstone Impact Fund, and existing investors Sapphire Sport, Hyperplane, Sovereign's Capital, and angel investors.
Private Equity Dynamics
Bitdefender: The cybersecurity company backed by Vitruvian Partners acquired the Dublin-based email security solution provider Mesh Security, with specific financial terms undisclosed.
HG Insights: The company backed by Riverwood Capital acquired the Austin-based customer review and buyer intelligence solution provider TrustRadius, with specific financial terms undisclosed.
Other Dynamics
Ares Management: Acquired a minority stake in the Paris-based French SailGP team, a competitive sailing team, with specific financial terms undisclosed.
Dai Nippon Printing: Acquired a majority stake in the Portugal-based biometric identity solution provider Laxton, with specific financial terms undisclosed.
Nuveen: Agreed to acquire the Brooklyn-based registered investment advisor Brooklyn Investment Group and its parent company Brooklyn Artificial Intelligence, a company developing direct indexing technology for asset management firms, with specific financial terms undisclosed.
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