A recent study by venture capital firm, Trammell Venture Partners (TVP), reveals sustained momentum in bitcoin-native startup development, with early-stage companies securing close to $1.2 billion in funding from 2021 to 2024.
Highlights in this research brief include:
- Continuous growth in Bitcoin-native startup transaction count from 2021 to 2024
- Amplified year-over-year growth at the Pre-Seed stage, signaling an increasing wave of venture-backed company building
- 2021-2024 Bitcoin company deal sizes and valuations by stage
- Deal count and total funding for early-stage Bitcoin companies versus broader crypto
- Notable generalist VC syndication and participation in Bitcoin-native venture capital deals
- Several surprising data points
The study, titled Bitcoin-Native Venture Capital Landscape Research Brief, found that even amid a wider slowdown in crypto and tech venture capital markets throughout 2023 and 2024, Bitcoin-focused startups – especially at the pre-seed stage – showed a lot of resilience, the report noted.
According to the study, there was a 767% increase in pre-seed Bitcoin startup transaction volume compared to 2021, highlighting the growth and stability of this emerging sector. In 2024 alone, pre-seed deal activity climbed 50% year-over-year, with total Bitcoin-native startup deals rising by 31.8%.
“One or two years’ data might represent an anomaly, but with four consecutive years of year-over-year growth at the earliest stage of Bitcoin startup formation, the data now confirm a sustained, long-term venture category trend,” said Christopher Calicott, Managing Director at TVP.
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According to the study, a Bitcoin-native company is one whose success is intrinsically tied to the success of Bitcoin and that actively utilizes the Bitcoin protocol stack at the core of its operations.
Although venture capital funding in the broader crypto space has declined, the research indicates that Bitcoin-focused investments have defied this trend. In 2024, Bitcoin-native deals accounted for an increasing portion of venture activity, drawing interest from prominent institutional investors like:
- Draper Associates
- Founders Fund
- Y Combinator, and
- Ribbit Capital
To maintain focus on early-stage innovation, TVP’s report intentionally excludes mining operations and late-stage outlier deals. The dataset, covering activity from 2021 to 2024, is designed to provide clarity for investors looking to gain long-term exposure to the Bitcoin startup ecosystem.
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According to the study, the emergence of the Lightning Network and an increasing number of other tech enablements has seen Bitcoin becoming a platform, giving greater design space with lower platform risk to entrepreneurs who seek a long-term place to build on a truly decentralized foundation.
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— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) October 14, 2023
Near term, there are a number of technical possibilities that will further accelerate the Bitcoin startup market opportunity set, the study concluded.
The full report is available for download via TVP’s official website.
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