Protagonist launches $ 100 million fund to make early-stage crypto companies the protagonist – TechCrunch

Protagonist, a fairly new crypto fund and incubation lab, has launched its first $ 100 million fund to focus on early-stage crypto companies.

The company started in the beginning of 2022 and was originally called Ship Capital, but changed its name shortly after.

“Protagonist is more reflective of who we are and the people we want to invest in,” George Bousis, co-founder of Protagonist, told TechCrunch. “Ultimately, we want to build a brand, it’s not just about building a VC company or anything like that, it’s really about investing in entrepreneurs who build amazing things.”

It initially worked with individuals and family offices in the crypto area, but became more open to institutions to work with, Bousis said. “We want to build relationships, but it’s more about finding the right partners and choosing the right LPs, as opposed to chasing dollars … for us it’s really how we live our lives, we want to invest in people and build 50-year-old relationships. “

The fund was founded by Bousis, Dylan Macalinao, Ian Macalinao and Harry Hurst. Both Macalinao’s founded the Solana-focused liquidity network across Saber Labs chains, while Bousis and Hurst are longtime entrepreneurs and investors.

The $ 100 million will be invested in mostly early-stage crypto companies focusing on games, infrastructure, new blockchains and ecosystems or security and privacy.

It also develops and incubates its own protocols internally. The first portfolio companies are a scalable layer-1 blockchain, Aptos, a Solana protocol that enables conditional ownership of NFTs, Cardinal, and a digital banking and lifestyle services platform, Cogni.

“Some of the things I’m really excited about personally are bridging the gap between digital and physical assets, and actually leveraging crypto, defi and blockchain as a technology without consumers realizing or understanding that they are using it,” Bousis said. “I think that’s where the future is headed, a world where human behavior and experience are not changing, but should only be improved.”

Creating and investing in new crypto-technology is not about letting ordinary people create or understand seed sentences or crypto wallets, Bousis said. “The whole idea of ​​interoperability should never have been an issue or a problem in the first place if you really want this industry to scale and affect the next billions of users.”

While valuations are down across industries and crypto markets continue to be volatile, Bousis believes this is the best time to invest.

“In bear markets and out of financial crises and what not, you see some of the best businesses and returns coming from those markets,” Bousis said. “This is where legends are born, and you can really make a name for yourself … we believe this is where the real builders and investors will thrive.”