In a significant development in the world of decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain technology, Seed Club, a DAO-focused accelerator program, has launched its venture arm out of stealth mode with a $25 million fund. This strategic move marks an important milestone for Seed Club Ventures, which aims to support projects that are building the next generation of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).
A DAO for Builders
Seed Club is not just any ordinary accelerator program. It is a DAO focused on supporting builders who are creating innovative solutions at the intersection of culture and technology. According to Anthony Avedissian, one of Seed Club Venture’s co-founders, "The thesis is centered around shifting from web2-created platforms like YouTube toward web3 creator economies where the value is shared by creators in communities."
Seed Club Ventures has been quietly investing since the third quarter of 2021 and has backed projects such as Guild, Stability AI, Lens, and Metalabel. The venture arm has 63 members, including crypto venture capital firms like Multicoin Capital, Delphi Digital, and Dragonfly Capital, as well as family offices, traditional VCs, and corporations. Notably, about half of the members are individuals in the crypto space.
"We feel like now is the right moment for the internet and for crypto for communities to have ownership," said NiMa Asghari, instigator at Seed Club Ventures. "Crypto is definitely one of the big pieces of the puzzle, but we felt this philosophy was missing that communities can have ownership and have a source of funding, and we want to be an example of that."
A New Era for DAOs
DAOs, or decentralized autonomous organizations, are groups that are collectively owned by communities and allow participants to make operational decisions without centralized leadership. Major DAOs typically focus on raising capital to support specific causes or to purchase something, like LinksDAO, which is on a mission to buy a golf course.
In the past two years, DAOs gained significant momentum across the crypto space, but popularity (or hype) around them has since slowed down. While a number of prominent ones still exist within the crypto community, they aren’t really reaching mass mainstream adoption.
"This might be controversial, but I would say we have too many DAO tools and more companies building tools than governable DAOs, but that’s just natural in every cycle of boom and bust," said Asghari. "There’s an overshoot of what’s needed."
Seed Club Ventures plans to back founders building DAOs and "internet-native organizations" in crypto as well as other categories like artificial intelligence, art, and music.
"We see internet-native organizations, as we call them, the next step in the evolution of human coordination," said Avedissian. "We don’t want to invest in just one ‘Salesforce’ in the DAO space; we want to back many projects and have them interoperate together."
The Future of Internet-Native Organizations
Seed Club Ventures’ vision for internet-native organizations is centered around creating a new paradigm for human coordination and collaboration. By supporting projects that are building infrastructure, applications, and tooling for DAOs and open communities, Seed Club Ventures aims to create a more decentralized and inclusive internet.
"We plan on backing founders building DAOs and internet-native organizations in crypto as well as other categories like artificial intelligence, art, and music," said Avedissian. "We believe that these types of projects will be the next big thing in the evolution of human coordination."
Conclusion
Seed Club Ventures’ launch with a $25 million fund marks an important milestone for the world of DAOs and blockchain technology. By supporting projects that are building innovative solutions at the intersection of culture and technology, Seed Club Ventures aims to create a more decentralized and inclusive internet.
As Asghari noted, "We feel like now is the right moment for the internet and for crypto for communities to have ownership." With Seed Club Ventures’ vision and support, it’s likely that we’ll see significant advancements in the world of DAOs and blockchain technology in the coming years.
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