Blockchain startups were booming when Katie Haun launched her own crypto-focused venture firm, Haun Ventures. However, the sudden collapse of FTX and a downturn in cryptocurrency prices made the firm more cautious than intended. Despite having a significant amount of capital, Haun Ventures refrained from hastily investing in crypto and web3 during the market dip.
Now that bitcoin prices have rebounded, Haun Ventures is ramping up its investment activity. The firm has made a total of 48 investments across its early-stage $500 million and $1 billion later-stage acceleration funds, including some token positions. One of their recent investments is Agora, an app that simplifies voting and decision-making for decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).
DAO participation has been hindered by the lack of a user-friendly interface for approving software upgrades and making decisions. Agora aims to address this issue by providing an easy-to-use community and protocol governance solution. DAO members can now participate in resource allocation without the need for complex on-chain actions. Agora streamlines the process, making it accessible even for non-technical users.
Agora’s simplicity and effectiveness have attracted protocols like Optimism, ENS, and Uniswap, who are willing to pay for the service as it lowers the barrier to community participation. The company, founded in 2022 by Charlie Feng, Yitong Zhang, and Kent Fenwick, already operates as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering.
Sam Rosenblum, a partner at Haun Ventures, compared Agora to Coinbase, noting that it simplifies participation in DAOs just as Coinbase simplifies coin trading for most people. While Rosenblum didn’t provide a specific timeline for deploying Haun Ventures’ current fund, he confirmed that investments will continue into the next year.
The resurgence in bitcoin prices and increasing investment activity in the crypto world indicate a renewed optimism in blockchain technology. Haun Ventures’ strategic investment in Agora highlights the importance of user-friendly solutions in promoting wider adoption of decentralized governance models. As more startups like Agora emerge, the crypto space is evolving to address the challenges and barriers that have previously hindered DAO participation.