The Los Angeles venture capital landscape, particularly in the crypto space, is experiencing significant growth and maturing rapidly. Finance editor Jeff Roberts recently spoke with Adam Winnick, a veteran of the scene, about the evolving nature of crypto venture capital and its potential convergence with traditional tech investing.
Winnick, known for his ability to convene influential people in the industry, shared insights from his experience at the Medici Network conference in Beverly Hills. The event brought together a diverse group of participants, from startup founders to representatives of Ivy League endowments and sovereign wealth funds. One notable observation was how normalized crypto investing has become within the broader venture capital community. Unlike earlier days when crypto was viewed as a separate entity, it now appears to be integrating into the mainstream VC landscape.
A key differentiator in crypto VC remains the liquidity and token-based model, contrasting with traditional VC’s focus on stock and longer investment horizons. While early crypto investing was marred by issues like VCs dumping tokens on retail investors, the adoption of stricter lock-up periods has helped curb some of these abuses. Clearer regulations are expected to further improve the landscape.
Winnick advocates for the token model, seeing it as a powerful tool for bootstrapping network effects. He believes that despite early misuses, tokens will become more prevalent in VC investing as traditional tech and crypto converge. The winners in this emerging landscape will likely be those who can effectively combine the mature tech stack of Web2 with the technical dynamics of Web3.
Winnick’s firm, Finality Capital Partners, appears to be making strides in this space. Their inaugural $45 million fund achieved a 69% IRR by the end of last year, with successful Series A investments in crypto staking projects like EigenLayer and Babylon. Their second fund, Liquid Fund, is up 12% in 2025, a positive performance compared to many other funds in the industry.
The success of Finality Capital suggests that there’s room for innovative players in the crypto VC space, even alongside giants like a16z and Haun Ventures. Winnick attributes his firm’s traction to their hands-on approach, providing blunt advice and being directly accessible to their portfolio companies.
As the worlds of crypto and traditional VC continue to evolve, questions remain about their potential convergence. The L.A. venture capital scene, described by one reporter as “passive aggressive,” is nonetheless showing signs of vibrancy and growth.
Recent Venture Deals:
- Senra Systems (Redondo Beach, CA): $25 million Series A for wire harnesses in aerospace and defense
- Mercanis (Berlin): $20.4 million Series A for AI-powered procurement solutions
- Tadaweb (Luxembourg): $20 million for publicly available information and open-source intelligence
- Swarmia (Helsinki): $11.5 million for software engineering intelligence platform
- Polar (Stockholm): $10 million seed for payment infrastructure for SaaS businesses
- Brandback (Berlin): $7.4 million for resale infrastructure
- Embedl (Gothenburg, Sweden): $6.3 million pre-series A for AI inference optimization
- Project Eleven (New York City): $6 million seed for quantum technology
- Swebal (Stockholm): $3.4 million for TNT company
- SportsVisio (Boston): $3.2 million for AI-powered sports analytics
Private Equity Deals:
- Bitdefender acquired Mesh Security, an email security solutions provider
- HG Insights acquired TrustRadius, a customer reviews and buyer intelligence solution
- Ares Management acquired a minority stake in France SailGP Team
- Dai Nippon Printing acquired a majority stake in Laxton, a biometric identity solutions provider
- Nuveen agreed to acquire Brooklyn Investment Group and its parent company
People:
- Aquiline Capital Partners promoted several new partners
The venture capital landscape continues to evolve, with innovative firms finding their niche in the competitive market.
