San Francisco · Pre-Seed–Seed · 12 people tracked
Investment thesis
IDEO CoLab Ventures backs visionary founders at the earliest stages, focusing on three themes: rearchitecting the internet (the tools, infrastructure, and building blocks for the next web), open financial systems (decentralized products and services enabling more open finance), and the future of work and play (experiences, marketplaces, organizations, and networks that connect and coordinate people). The firm emphasizes helping founders create products and protocols that people love, and has a history of creating and incubating ventures alongside investing since 2015.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 7, 2026.
Team · 12 people
from the firm's website & public directories
What they invest in
from 20 of 27 portfolio companiesCrypto & Web3 ×16Developer Tools ×7Fintech ×6Data & Infrastructure ×5AI & Machine Learning ×4Cloud Computing ×3Cybersecurity ×3Creator Economy ×2
HQs:United States×11India×1
Who they back
founder profiles across 14 portfolio companiesFounding team size:solo founder×72 founders×53 founders×2
Investments · 27 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathBy year:2023 · 12021 · 12015 · 13 dated
Aave Labs is the original author and contributor to Aave, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol for lending and borrowing crypto assets.
Crypto & Web3Fintech
Co-investorsAegis VentuesArkStream CapitalBig Candle CapitalBlockchain CapitalDeFiance CapitalDraft Ventures Llc+12 more
Antimetal builds an autonomous system that operates production infrastructure by continuously monitoring, diagnosing, and fixing issues across software systems.
AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingDeveloper ToolsNew York City, US
Shreyas Iyer(Founder)
Co-investorsBuilder CapitalChapter OneHawk Hill VenturesSound Ventures
Archway is a blockchain protocol that rewards developers who build decentralized applications by giving them a share of gas fees, network inflation rewards, and the ability to charge usage premiums on their smart contracts.
Crypto & Web3Developer Tools
Co-investors1confirmationFigmentTPC Club (The presale club)TPC VenturesHashed
Blocknative builds blockchain data infrastructure, including Gas Network and tools for transaction efficiency, mempool visibility, transaction orchestration, block building, and MEV auctions, serving protocol teams, wallet builders, and institutions.
Crypto & Web3Data & InfrastructureDeveloper ToolsTiburon, US
Matt Cutler(Founder & CEO)
Co-investorsBlockchain CapitalCoinbase VenturesFenbushi CapitalIOSG VenturesFoundryIndustry Ventures+1 more
Observability platform for decentralized applications (acquired by thirdweb in 2024).
Dover, US
Amine Afia(Executive Officer, Director)Gery Pollak(Executive Officer, Director)
Co-investorsSpeedinvestRockawayX
Braintrust offers an AI-powered suite for enterprise hiring, assessment, and operations, including a vetted talent marketplace, an AI recruiting and screening tool, and custom AI automation agents.
AI & Machine LearningFuture of WorkHR Tech
Adam Jackson(Co-founder)inGabe Luna-Ostaseski(Founder)
Co-investorsACME CapitalAusum VenturesCoatue ManagementCoinbase VenturesDanu VenturesFuture Perfect Ventures+8 more
Chia develops an open-source blockchain network using Proof of Space Time consensus, designed to significantly reduce energy consumption compared to traditional proof-of-work systems.
AgTechCrypto & Web3Data & InfrastructureFintechSouth San Francisco, US
Bram Cohen(Founder, Chairman of the Board, Chief Technology Officer (former CEO 2019-2022))Ryan Singer(Co-Founder (former CEO, 2017-2019))Gene Hoffman(President and Chief Executive Officer; also Co-CEO of Permuto Capital)inMisha Graboi(Chief Financial Officer)Vishal Kapoor(Chief Operating Officer)April Helliwell(Executive Officer, Director)
Co-investorsa16z cryptoAndreessen HorowitzAndromeda CapitalBreyer CapitalCollab+CurrencyDCM Ventures+7 more
Coinvise provides tools for creators and online communities to issue and manage their own tokens on Ethereum.
Ahmedabad, IN
Jenil Thakker(Founder)in
Co-investorsA.Capital VenturesNFXScalar Capital
FalconX is a digital assets prime brokerage providing institutional clients with 24/7 access to liquidity and capital solutions through proprietary technology designed for risk management in volatile markets.
Crypto & Web3FintechSan Mateo, US
Raghu Yarlagadda(Founder)inAustin ReidinSuzy WaltherinBrian CristinVanessa Zhangin
BoardShekhar Kirani(Executive Officer, Director)in
Co-investorsAccelAccompliceB Capital GroupB4 CapitalCleo CapitalCoinbase Ventures+11 more
Gelato provides smart wallet and rollup infrastructure, enabling developers to launch gasless onboarding, smart wallets, and custom rollups through a single SDK.
Cloud ComputingCrypto & Web3Developer Tools
Hilmar Maximilian Orth(Founder)in
Co-investorsBloccelerate VCBootNodeD1 VenturesHack VCIOSG VenturesMetastable+1 more
Gitcoin operates a directory and knowledge base for funding mechanisms, platforms, and research in decentralized networks, Ethereum, and public goods.
Crypto & Web3Data & InfrastructureGovTechLafayette, US
Kevin OwockiKevin O.(Founder)inKyle Weiss(Executive Officer, Director)
BoardMichael Kriak(Director)inMatt Huang(Director)in
Co-investorsBootNodeConsenSys MeshDivergenceFenbushi CapitalIOSG VenturesOKX Ventures+4 more
Cryptocurrency exchange protocol bridging centralized and decentralized finance.
Varun Kumar(Founder & CEO)Vinod Raghavan(Founder)Victor Ionescu(Founder)in
Co-investorsArrington CapitalBollinger Investment GroupCoinbase VenturesDragonflyElectric CapitalFabric Ventures+15 more
Immunefi is a crowdsourced security platform for Web3, offering bug bounty programs, audit competitions, invite-only programs, security audits, and PR reviews that connect protocols with security researchers to find and disclose onchain vulnerabilities.
Crypto & Web3Cybersecurity
Mitchell Amador(CEO & Founder)in
Co-investorsBR CapitalElectric CapitalLattice CapitalMarin Digital VenturesNIVSamsung Next
Crypto data, research and disclosure platform covering 40,000+ assets; acquired by Blockworks in June 2026.
Ryan Selkis(Founder)in
Co-investorsAnthemis VentureBlockchain CapitalCoinbase VenturesFabric VenturesFenbushi CapitalFloodgate+12 more
Paragraph is a publishing platform with an integrated AI agent that automates content creation, editing, and distribution across multiple channels including blogs, newsletters, social media, and landing pages.
AI & Machine LearningCreator EconomySaaS
Co-investors2050A.Capital VenturesCatcherVCFourth Revolution Capital (4RC)IOSG VenturesPolymorphic Capital+5 more
NEAR is an open blockchain infrastructure powering the agent economy, providing cross-chain execution, confidential settlement, and private inference capabilities.
AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingCrypto & Web3Miami, US
Illia Polosukhin(Co-Founder)
Co-investorsA.Capital Venturesa16z cryptoAccompliceAdvanced BlockchainAmbush CapitalAmplify Partners+35 more
Neon Labs develops technology to bridge Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) applications with the Solana blockchain, aiming to make Web3 transactions faster and cheaper.
Crypto & Web3Data & InfrastructureDeveloper ToolsGrand Cayman
Petrus Dorfling Basson(Executive Officer, Director)Marina Guryeva(Executive Officer, Director)David Charles Lloyd(Executive Officer, Director)
Co-investorsAdvanced BlockchainBollinger Investment GroupNxGenPuzzle VenturesRockawayXWintermute+3 more
Ethereum-based DeFi protocol for borrowing and lending crypto assets at fixed rates and fixed terms.
New York City, US
Jeff Wu(Founder)inTeddy Woodward(Founder)inDiana Munoz(Executive Officer, Director)Omar Camargo(Executive Officer, Director)Persis Manfred Sarmiento(Executive Officer, Director)
Co-investors1confirmationAlliance DAO (ex DeFi Alliance)Coinbase VenturesNascentPantera CapitalParaFi Capital
Optimism provides blockchain infrastructure based on the OP Stack, letting exchanges, fintechs, and financial institutions deploy and operate their own chains or add onchain features while it handles operations, security, and upgrades.
Crypto & Web3Data & InfrastructureFintech
Jing Wang(Founder)Jinglan Wang(Founder)
Co-investorsA.Capital Venturesa16z cryptoAbstract VenturesAndreessen HorowitzAndromeda CapitalCoinbase Ventures+7 more
River is a bitcoin bank providing full-reserve custody and financial services built on sound money principles.
Crypto & Web3Fintech
Alex Leishman(Founder, CEO & CTO)
Co-investorsDG Daiwa VenturesFormus CapitalHivemind Ventures, LlcSlow VenturesSummit Peak Ventures
Co-investorsBlockchain CapitalCollab+CurrencyKindred VenturesMulticoin CapitalNascent
Syndicate provides infrastructure to scale the Ethereum blockchain, supporting staking and development operations on the network.
Crypto & Web3Mountain View, US
William Raphael Papper(Executive Officer, Director)Ian John Lee(Executive Officer, Director)ian //(Founder)in
Co-investorsA.Capital Venturesa16z cryptoAndreessen HorowitzArchetypeAtelierBlueYard Capital+12 more
Goldfinch Finance provides onchain access to private credit funds managed by established firms like Ares, Apollo, and Golub, offering exposure to senior secured loans across multiple industries.
Crypto & Web3FintechWalnut, US
Blake West(Founder)Mike Sall(Founder)
Co-investorsA.Capital Venturesa16z cryptoAndreessen HorowitzCoinbase VenturesMSA NovoVariant Fund
XMTP is an open source, decentralized messaging protocol that uses quantum-resistant encryption to let developers build secure, programmable chat apps, mini-apps, and AI agents with native support for payments and digital assets.
Crypto & Web3CybersecurityDeveloper Tools
Co-investorsFaction
OpenZeppelin provides smart contract libraries, security audits, and operational tooling for onchain finance across major blockchains.
Crypto & Web3CybersecurityDeveloper Tools
Demian Brener(Founder)in
Co-investorsCoinbase VenturesContinue CapitalDigital Currency GroupDraft Ventures LlcFabric VenturesNorthzone+2 more
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companies
Archway · aol.com · Aug 18, 2026
Optimism · klkntv.com · Aug 17, 2026
Syndicate · tekedia.com · Jul 18, 2026
River Financial · thecooldown.com · Jul 18, 2026
FalconX · axios.com · Jul 15, 2026
Mirror · baynews9.com · Jun 24, 2026
Braintrust · techcrunch.com · May 6, 2026
Gitcoin · gitcoin.co · Mar 5, 2026
Frequently asked questions
- How many investments has IDEO CoLab Ventures made?
- IDEO CoLab Ventures has 24 tracked investments.
- What stage does IDEO CoLab Ventures invest at?
- IDEO CoLab Ventures invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed stages.
- What is IDEO CoLab Ventures's typical check size?
- IDEO CoLab Ventures typically writes checks of $100K – $10M.
- What sectors does IDEO CoLab Ventures focus on?
- IDEO CoLab Ventures focuses on AI & Machine Learning, Crypto & Web3, Developer Tools, Fintech, Future of Work, Marketplaces, Sector Agnostic.
- Where is IDEO CoLab Ventures located?
- IDEO CoLab Ventures is headquartered in San Francisco, US.
- Does IDEO CoLab Ventures lead rounds?
- IDEO CoLab Ventures typically participates in rounds rather than leading them.
- Who does IDEO CoLab Ventures co-invest with?
- IDEO CoLab Ventures most often shares deals with Coinbase Ventures, IOSG Ventures, Nascent, among 132 tracked co-investors.
Media · Podcasts & interviews
featuring the teamSocial Tokens, Personal Tokens and NFTs - Reuben Bramanathan, IDEO CoLab Ventures
The Encrypted Economy · Reuben Bramanathan
Images
Co-investors · 5
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is a venture capital firm founded in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, known for pioneering the platform model with a large team of operators supporting founders across stages.
Sound Ventures is a venture capital firm that seeks to invest in the technology sector.
Robot Ventures is a $75M early-stage crypto fund founded and led by Robert Leshner (Compound) and Tarun Chitra (Gauntlet), who actively run major DeFi companies while managing the fund, giving founders direct access to operators at the center of on-chain markets. The fund specializes in backing highly technical crypto primitives at the pre-seed stage before they become marquee names, leveraging deep quant research expertise to evaluate complex DeFi mechanisms that many generalist VCs struggle to understand.
Haun Ventures backs founders building the future of finance, investing from seed to scale in teams applying decentralized technology to reshape the global economy.
Polychain is an investment firm that actively manages portfolios of blockchain-based digital assets, aiming to deliver strong returns for its investors.
Firms observed investing alongside IDEO CoLab Ventures, from public investor directories. Shared companies are the overlap with IDEO CoLab Ventures's recorded portfolio.
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