Crypto venture capital is holding strong as DAO5, operated by Tekin Salimi, reveals its second $222 million fund. The new round comes following its initial $125 million fund, as it continues to move forward with institutional blockchain uses such as asset tokenization and stablecoins.
Former corporate lawyer and previous Polychain executive Salimi has dedicated this new fund to established and scalable initiatives in the space.
Started in 2022, DAO5 has raised a total of $347 million in two venture funds. Salimi intends to utilize this recent funding to advance blockchain projects with practical uses.
The backers of the fund are predominantly high-net-worth individuals and family offices, who remain steadfastly behind blockchain development amidst wider financial headwinds.
The first DAO5 fund supported projects such as Berachain and the decentralized AI platform Bittensor at an early stage. Salimi invested fully in that fund before launching this one and has already returned initial investor capital with a 1x DPI.
The financial success has been one of the main reasons why DAO5 was able to secure a second, sizeable round in an otherwise tough market.
Tekin Salimi established his reputation as an insightful crypto investor at Polychain, where he was involved in significant deals such as Avalanche.
DAO5: focused fund structure for startups
However, following years of investment and legal strategy leadership, he built DAO5 to have a streamlined and flexible fund structure.
Smaller pools of capital provide him with superior relationships and tighter support of early-stage founders, according to his belief.
Salimi entered crypto in 2017 as a legal consultant, often being paid in pre-sale tokens or Bitcoin. He got to know hundreds of startup teams at blockchain conferences, making connections that would later inform his investment strategy.
His prior experience as a lawyer enabled him to steer early-stage startups around regulatory challenges and intricate deal structures.
Now with $222 million to invest, Salimi is looking to leverage blockchain tools designed for financial institutions.
Previous cycles emphasized futuristic ventures such as NFTs or proof-of-concept AI, whereas this fund will take on tools with tangible, scalable utility. Institutional adoption is the most significant frontier for Salimi.
Dao5’s second fund has 15 limited partners, and among them is repeat investor George Lambeth, now coming onboard as general partner.
Despite crypto’s volatile asset prices, Salimi feels carefully designed blockchain tools still have long-term potential for institutions and investors.
