♠️ Union Square Ventures crypto portfolio breakdown

Welcome to zero knowledge. A weekly newsletter breaking down where the top VCs are investing in web3/crypto.

Expect portfolio breakdowns (like this) every week and other crypto topics, insights, and updates everywhere in between.

Here we go 💪

Outline

Since 2003, USV has invested in over 100 companies that use the power of the internet to re-shape markets. They are a thesis-driven investment firm and have backed some of the best companies in each of their thesis categories.

In their "1st thesis investing stage", they've backed companies like Twitter, Etsy, Zynga.

In their "2nd thesis investing stage", they dipped their toes into web3 for the first time and backed companies like Coinbase and Protocol Labs.

They are currently in their "3rd thesis investing stage" and recently backed companies like WalletConnect and Slope.

Here's what to expect below 👇

• Recent funding news from USV.
• USV's portfolio broken down by layer, blockchain, company type, and category.
• 🕵️‍♂️  The most interesting company in their portfolio.
• 💼 Entire USV portfolio (in an Airtable sheet).
• 💰 Tokens available from USV portfolio companies.

Recent funding news from USV

1. Ceramic raises $30m for its data composability network, lead b USV and Multicoin (equity 💵)

• Ceramic has three core components: a scalable infrastructure layer for data, a clearinghouse for sharing data models between network participants, and an API suite that any project can use to plug in. The idea is to make all this data more composable and accessible on a decentralized internet.

2. WalletConnect raises $11m to let wallets talk to each other (equity 💵)

• WalletConnect is developing a multi-protocol messaging network. The first protocols will relate to direct messaging between wallet users and push notifications from apps for on- and off-chain events.
  

Below is a thematic view of USV's investments by:

1. Category (ex: infrastructure vs. finance companies)
2. Company type (ex: payments vs. NFTs and digital ownership companies)
3. Layer (ex: L1 vs. L2)
4. Blockchain (ex: Eth vs. Solana)

#1 Investments by category

#2 Investments by company type

#3 Investments by layer

#4 Investments by blockchain

Most interesting portfolio company 📈

• Elevator ⚡️: WalletConnect is not an app, but an open protocol to communicate securely between Wallets and Dapps. It's a developer tool that powers millions of web3 connections every day.
• How does it work: Developers simply input a few lines of code to integrate WalletConnect with their Dapp.
• How to start a conversation: The connection is initiated by one peer displaying a QR Code or deep link with a standard WalletConnect URI and is established when the counter-party approves this connection request.
• Key insight 🕵️‍♂️: Since wallets introduce digital identities that are portable across applications, WalletConnect is building the shared messaging layer that is completely encrypted and isn't owned by any particular wallet or application.
• Advantages 👇:

Any wallet

Any Dapp

Any chain

Individual portfolio company data

Tokens available from USV backed companies

Feedback

Let us know what you think here!