The new fund, led by founding general partners Shawn Broderick and Nick Plante, will continue to invest in startups exploring new frontiers in decentralization and blockchain technology
The global, multi-stage venture capital firm SOSV announced the spin-out of dlab, its startup program focused on decentralization and blockchain technologies, as a standalone fund, effective January 1, 2023. The news marks the first time SOSV has spun out an SOSV startup program as an independent fund.
The new fund will be led by founding general partners Shawn Broderick and Nick Plante, formerly general partner and partner at SOSV, respectively. SOSV will be the anchor limited partner in the fund.
“Shawn and Nick have done a great job in backing pioneering blockchain companies that will really matter and side-stepping the nonsense,” said Sean O’Sullivan, SOSV Managing General Partner. “Blockchain, DeFi, and distributed apps have a wealth of applications where they provide fundamental value and will succeed. I’m proud of the dlab companies that will remain in the SOSV portfolio, and I look forward to dlab earning great returns for all its limited partners.”
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The SOSV investments in dlab companies made to date will remain part of SOSV’s portfolio, and Broderick will continue to look after his legacy SOSV investments as an SOSV venture partner.
In 2018, Broderick and Plante started working with founders innovating in Web3, decentralization, and the blockchain to find the earliest-stage startups building the infrastructure necessary to realize the vast ambitions of the Web3 universe. In 2019, SOSV launched the dlab startup development program, which offers capital and mentorship to carefully selected founders.
Despite the swings endemic to the crypto side of blockchain, dlab’s Web3 thesis has proven strong. Over the past four years, SOSV has invested in 23 dlab startups, including:
- API3, building first-party oracles to bring data on-chain via trustless apps
- Contango, creating a decentralized exchange for expirables without order books or liquidity pools
- Composable Finance, engineering trustless cross-chain interoperability
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As dlab took shape, SOSV deepened its commitment to deep tech startups focused on human and planetary health. While there are applications for blockchain technology in climate and health, SOSV and dlab decided that the best path for dlab’s continued success and growth was to become a standalone fund.
“After more than four years proving out dlab as part of SOSV, Nick and I are ecstatic to take things to the next level as an independent fund,” said dlab founding partner Shawn Broderick. “The promise of decentralization made possible via blockchain technologies represents a generational opportunity to create a more transparent, open, and participatory world.”
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