Theta Capital Management Launches $200M Blockchain Fund Targeting 10-15 Investments

What Happened

The new vehicle, called Theta Blockchain Ventures V, will allocate capital to between 10 and 15 venture firms specializing in digital assets while targeting a 25% net internal rate of return, according to an investor deck obtained by Bloomberg.

Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer, Ruud Smets, previously told Bloomberg that “crypto-native venture firms possess a sustainable edge beyond just getting exposure to the market.”

The fund-of-funds model allows institutional investors to gain diversified exposure to early-stage blockchain startups through established venture capital intermediaries.

Theta has invested over $600 million in crypto-native venture capital funds since 2017, establishing itself as one of the largest institutional allocators in the blockchain industry.

The fundraising effort comes during a challenging period for crypto venture investing, even as token prices have surged throughout 2025.

According to Galaxy Digital research, increased interest in artificial intelligence has drawn attention away from crypto investing, while spot ETFs and treasury companies are competing for institutional investment dollars.

Meanwhile, private token sales raised $410 million across just 15 deals in Q2, marking the strongest private performance since 2021, driven by strategic treasury deals and rollup ecosystem investments.

Geographically, this shift marks a return to traditional venture hubs, following Malta’s brief lead last quarter due to a single large sovereign fund investment.

The broader macro environment continues to pressure crypto venture capital, with rising interest rates and shifts in allocator preferences directing institutional flows away from early-stage startup investments toward liquid, regulated instruments.

Many institutional investors are now seeking crypto exposure through spot exchange-traded funds and digital asset treasury companies rather than venture capital commitments.

Market Context

Amsterdam-based Theta Capital Management is seeking $200 million for its latest blockchain fund-of-funds targeting specialized crypto venture firms.

The fundraising effort comes despite challenging market conditions, with just $1.7 billion allocated to 21 crypto-focused venture funds in Q2 2025, according to Galaxy Digital data.

The firm’s portfolio includes marquee crypto venture capital firms such as Pantera Capital, CoinFund, Polychain Capital, and Dragonfly Capital.

The United States also regained market dominance, capturing 47.8% of funds and 41.2% of completed deals, while the UK ranked second with nearly 23% of capital allocation.

Why It Matters

Founded in 2001, Theta shifted its focus to digital assets in 2018 and now manages approximately $1.2 billion.

How Theta Turned Crypto Bets Into Billion-Dollar Returns

Details

Theta recently closed a separate fundraising round of over $170 million.

Across its prior five funds in the Theta Blockchain Ventures series, the manager has delivered a 32.7% net internal rate of return from January 2018 through December 2024.

He emphasized that “their early advantage and experience has compounded over time, making it hard for generalist VCs to compete in the early stages.”

Crypto VC Faces Headwinds, But Pockets of Growth Emerge

However, recent data shows signs of selective recovery in certain segments, with Web3 startups raising $9.6 billion in Q2 despite deal counts dropping to multi-year lows.

Infrastructure-focused sectors, such as validator networks, mining operations, and compute networks, have attracted the highest median round sizes in recent quarters.

Outlier Ventures data has also shown that crypto infrastructure startups secured a median round of $112 million, followed by mining and validation at $83 million.

Public token sales, however, fell 83% from the previous quarter to $134 million, as retail appetite waned.