Ego Death Capital raises $100M to finance Bitcoin-focused startups

Venture capital firm Ego Death Capital has raised $100 million from family offices and other investors to support early-stage Bitcoin companies, highlighting the growing institutional appetite for digital asset-focused ventures.

The fund aims to back Series A rounds for companies generating between $1 million and $3 million in annual revenue, founding partner Nico Leshuga told Axios in an exclusive interview.

Leshuga said he sees “Bitcoin as the only decentralized and secure base to be able to build on.”

Ego Death Capital is building on Bitcoin at a time of heightened institutional interest in the asset, driven by the strong performance of US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and the growth of corporate Bitcoin treasuries.

So far, Ego Death has invested in several Bitcoin-focused startups, including the Roxcom exchange, the Relai savings platform and Breez, a payments solution built on the Lightning Network.

However, the firm does not plan to invest in hardware-focused companies such as Bitcoin miners or wallet manufacturers, and it has no interest in backing projects related to other cryptocurrencies.

Dozens of publicly traded and private companies have added Bitcoin to their balance sheets — a trend that has only accelerated in recent months.

Crypto venture capital deals rebound in Q2

Beyond Bitcoin, venture capital funding in the broader cryptocurrency and blockchain space rebounded sharply in the second quarter, with companies raising a cumulative $10.03 billion, according to CryptoRank data.

More than half of that funding came in June alone, accounting for $5.14 billion.

Some of the largest deals of the quarter included American politician Vivek Ramaswamy’s $750 million Strive fundraise and the launch of 21 Capital, which raised $585 million to acquire Bitcoin.

Overall, second-quarter VC funding marked the industry’s strongest quarter since Q1 2022, when total investments reached $16.64 billion.