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ToggleIntroduction to Hack VC Venture Capital
Hack VC is a Crypto-native Venture Capital fund based in the United States, focusing on early-stage blockchain and Web3 projects. Founded in 2021 by Alexander Pack and Ed Roman, Hack VC quickly became a prominent name in the Web3 investment ecosystem through its "investor + builder" strategy – meaning not only providing capital, but also directly participating in building, providing technical support, and community development for invested projects.
Hack VC positions itself as a fund for Web3 founders, providing not just financial resources but also a network of engineers, researchers, strategic partners, and a global user community. From 2021 to now, the fund has built a diverse investment portfolio with over 100 varied projects in Web3 fields.
With total Assets Under Management (AUM) reaching over $425 million through three investment funds, Hack VC has been and continues to be a strategic partner of many prominent protocols like EigenLayer, Mysten Labs (Sui), Berachain, Morpho,… They also frequently co-invest with other "smart money" such as a16z, Paradigm, Coinbase Ventures, and Polychain Capital. Hack VC's vision is to become a platform supporting the next wave of innovation in Web3, by investing in scalable, transparent infrastructure that will shape the future of a decentralized Internet.
[The rest of the translation follows the same professional and accurate approach]- Ed Roman is a technology entrepreneur and long-time investor in Silicon Valley. He is widely known as the founder of Hack Summit, one of the largest blockchain programming community events in the world, with over 130,000 participants.
- Before entering the Web3 investment field, Ed had founded and operated software and fintech companies, with a solid foundation in product development and market strategy.
- At Hack VC, Ed focuses on building a community ecosystem for funded projects, while promoting training programs, connections, and support for developers from around the world.
Notable Investment Deals
Overview & Investment Appetite
- Number of Investments: 103
- Retail ROI: 3.40x, equivalent to +239.8%, showing very high investment performance compared to industry average.
- Headquarters: United States
- Average fundraising round size: from 3 to 10 million USD
Below is the investment portfolio allocation by sector:
| Sector | Investment Ratio |
|---|---|
| Layer 1 (L1) | 29.17% |
| Artificial Intelligence (AI) | 16.67% |
| Cross-Chain Infrastructure | 12.5% |
| Layer 2 (L2) | 12.5% |
| Proof of Stake (PoS) | 12.5% |
Hack VC is a fund strongly focused on blockchain infrastructure (Layer 1, Layer 2, cross-chain) and pioneering technologies like Web3-integrated AI. The fund has a clear appetite, long-term orientation, and high investment performance. With an ROI of 3.40x and a diverse investment portfolio, Hack VC is one of the most notable "smart money" in the Web3 ecosystem for 2024-2025.
Hack VC has a very clear investment strategy, mainly focusing on Seed stage projects. The specific allocation ratio is as follows:
- Seed 60%
- Series A 20%
- Pre-Seed 10%
- Extended Series A 5%
- Strategic 5%
Hack VC is a true early-stage investment fund, with 70% of its portfolio concentrated in Pre-Seed and Seed stages. This shows the fund prioritizes early discovery of breakthrough projects, accompanying them from the beginning and helping them access larger fundraising rounds in the future. This is why Hack VC often appears alongside other "smart money" in the first rounds of top Web3 projects.
3 Landmark Deals
- EigenLayer – Breakthrough Restaking protocol on Ethereum, marking success with high ROI for the fund.
- Berachain – DeFi-oriented EVM blockchain, Hack VC led Series A.
- Mysten Labs (Sui) – High-performance L1 funded from the beginning, completed mainnet and attracted a strong ecosystem.
5 Notable Token-Launched Projects
| Project | Short Description | Fundraising Capital |
|---|---|---|
| EigenLayer | Restaking protocol on Ethereum | $234.5 million |
| Berachain | EVM L1 for DeFi | $142 million |
| Sui (Mysten Labs) | New, high-speed L1 | $385.37 million |
| Morpho | Infrastructure for on-chain lending | $69.35 million |
| Grass | Data infrastructure for AI models | $4.5 million |
5 Notable Pre-Token Projects
Sentient
- Sentient is a decentralized AI infrastructure platform that allows developers to build, deploy, and profit from on-chain AI models.
- The project combines artificial intelligence and Web3, aiming to create a permissionless AI network.
- Hack VC participated in the $85 million fundraising round led by Founders Fund and Pantera (2024).
Eclipse
- Eclipse is a high-speed modular blockchain, combining Solana VM with Celestia (DA) and Ethereum (settlement) to optimize performance and customization for dApps.
- Hack VC invested early in the $50 million fundraising round (Series A – January 2024), alongside Placeholder and Polychain.
0G Labs
- 0G Labs is building a Data Availability Layer (DA Layer) for modular blockchains, focusing on high performance and low cost, seen as a potential competitor to Celestia.
- The project raised $35 million (March 2024), with participation from Hack VC, Hack VC, and Canonical Crypto.
Monkey Tilt
- Monkey Tilt is a Web3 social casino platform that combines gambling, betting, and blockchain technology to create a transparent and rewarding on-chain experience.
- The project's seed round raised $21 million (6/2024), with Hack VC and Polychain Capital participating.
Glow
- Glow is a project developing a new Algorithmic Stablecoin called GLO, designed to maintain price stability without collateral, using a "smart elastic supply" mechanism.
- Hack VC participated in the $5 million pre-seed round (2023) led by Paradigm.
For a complete overview of Hack VC's investment portfolio, readers can visit: https://www.hack.vc/portfolio
Some Achievements and Impacts on the Market
- Creating a sensation with Fund I $200M, Fund II $150M, and in 2024 Fund III $77M, bringing total AUM > $425M
- Exploiting a community-aligned model: opening Echo-group, initially free performance fee, encouraging startups to run community funds rounds
- Ready to participate in technical aspects (staking, dev tools) through Hack.Labs and promoting developer-community via Hack.Summit() with >130k attendees
- Contributing to expanding the global Web3 ecosystem, especially in cross-chain infrastructure and reStaking.
Summary
Hack VC stands out as a Crypto-native Venture Capital fund, focusing on infrastructure & early-stage with a "community + technical" strategy. Built on the deep experience of Alex Pack and Ed Roman, along with a strong network, Hack VC not only provides capital but also serves as a strategic, technical, and community partner for Web3 startups.
With a transparent investment model and building a solid user and developer community, the fund continues to maintain its position as one of the most influential "smart money" in the next development cycle of decentralized Internet.
