CoinFund, one of the world’s earliest and most experienced cryptonative investment firms and a registered investment adviser, today announced the hiring of Investors Michael Bosworth and Kavan Canekeratne – bolstering the investment team on the precipice of a transformative era for crypto.
Across its current $157M Seed IV (2023) and $320M Ventures I (2022) funds, CoinFund invests in early stage crypto, blockchain and web3 companies, working to champion and back the leaders of the new internet. The firm partners with visionary founders throughout the lifecycle of their companies to assist them to become category leaders in emerging sectors. The CoinFund portfolio spans nearly a decade of investments in the crypto ecosystem, including such areas as developer infrastructure, DeFi, fintech and real world assets, DePIN, DeAI, a variety of consumer services, as well as major base layer blockchains themselves.
The firm welcomes Technical Investor Michael Bosworth, who will advance technical research and contribute to due diligence for the team, applying more than 15 years of professional computer science experience at the forefront of emerging technology. Notably, Bosworth solved complex challenges around data access as a software engineer on a security and privacy team at Google; built out the automated trading platform of a medium-frequency hedge fund startup; and created the in-app realization of Moat’s flagship analytics product. His work has shaped varied domains, including blockchain, security, data privacy, traditional finance, advertising, telephony, marketing, and real estate. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science from Brown University.
CoinFund is also proud to announce that Investor Kavan Canekeratne will apply his broad investment experience in CoinFund’s Seed and Venture strategies. Passionate about blockchain’s potential to bank the underbanked and create new business models, Canekeratne most recently led early-stage crypto investing at Draper Dragon, where he led investments into CARV, ether.fi, SX Network, and XION. Prior to focusing on blockchain, he invested in Deep Tech industries for Dolby Family Ventures, including AI and Quantum Computing, and served as an Analyst at JP Morgan Investment Bank in the Tech Coverage Group. Kavan graduated from the University of San Diego with a Bachelor of Arts in Finance.
The news punctuates a dynamic year of growth and preparation for the firm, anticipating an acceleration of the industry now playing out in real time; in 2024 CoinFund grew the overall organization by 28% and nearly doubled the investment team to 11, not including the Managing Partners, prioritizing a diverse mix of specialists to support a rapidly evolving ecosystem of founders and companies. Globally as of December 5, 2024, crypto market capitalization has surpassed $3.79 trillion and $BTC has reached an all-time high, breaking the $100,000 ceiling for the first time and continuing to outperform the S&P on an annualized basis. With an upcoming change of leadership at the SEC amid a new U.S. Presidential Administration, lawmakers are poised to clarify U.S. regulation and enact crypto-friendly policies which the firm expects to continue momentum across the sector.
David Pakman, Managing Partner and Head of Venture Investments at CoinFund, commented: “For nearly ten years, CoinFund has invested in visionaries willing to pursue non-consensus ideas in order to build a new internet and global financial system. The crypto market’s gyrations have deterred the less determined, but CoinFund continues to attract mission-driven founders and investors alike to partner and work with us. Michael and Kavan each have a keen sense for where the next set of enormous investment opportunities lie and will offer the in-the-trenches, hands-on strategic support that founders have come to expect from CoinFund. The firm is well-positioned to continue to deploy significant seed and early venture-stage capital as crypto enters what we anticipate will be an era of widespread acceptance and adoption.”
CoinFund expects to continue hiring investors in addition to subject matter experts across the organization.
Founded in 2015 at a Brooklyn kitchen table by Highbridge Capital Management and Amazon alum Jake Brukhman, and later joined by co-founder and American Capital alum Alex Felix, CoinFund is now supported by a world class interdisciplinary global team of 32 people with more than 100 investments across six investment vehicles. Some of the firm’s recent seed and venture fund investments include liquid staking protocol Drop; liquid restaking platform ether.fi; human-in-the-loop AI data labeling provider Kiva; decentralized training protocol Pluralis; global compute resource platform Prime Intellect; blockchain climate technology company Raad Labs; smart account module innovator Rhinestone; and STON.fi, leading decentralized exchange in the TON ecosystem. More detail on CoinFund’s portfolio companies can be found at https://coinfund.io/portfolio/. CoinFund is committed to supporting the development of the decentralized ecosystem and leveraging the potential of blockchain innovation to drive long-term value creation.
About CoinFund
CoinFund is one of the world’s first cryptonative investment firms and a registered investment adviser founded in 2015. The firm champions the leaders of the new internet, powered by foresight as active investors to achieve extraordinary outcomes. CoinFund invests in seed, venture, and liquid opportunities within the blockchain sector with a focus on digital assets, decentralization technologies, and key enabling infrastructure. For more information, visit www.coinfund.io, LinkedIn or join us on X.
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