Fantom VC Spotlight - Hyperchain Capital
To support sustained growth across the ecosystem, the Fantom Foundation recently began connecting VC firms to native-Fantom projects.
Though the investors we’re in touch with come with their priorities and criteria, they share a common belief in the extraordinary quality of developers and projects that the network draws.
Out of all investors, though, none has as long a history with Fantom as Hyperchain Capital, which has invested in Fantom over three rounds, beginning in 2018.
From its humble origins participating in the first ICO in 2013, Hyperchain Capital has grown exponentially into one of the world's most respected digital assets management companies. In this article, Hyperchain Founder Stelian Balta, an entrepreneur known for his uncanny ability to spot the next big thing in crypto, describes his journey and shares thoughts on Fantom and blockchain in general.
1. How was Hyperchain Capital born?
Since 2012, I’ve been researching blockchain technologies and investing in promising projects. Along with my team, I also created exchange trading engine technologies. After making many investments, I decided to found a crypto venture fund focused on long-term and high-potential projects through every market cycle.
2. What verticals does Hyperchain focus on at the moment? Why?
With 90+ investments, we are interested in L0-3 blockchain technologies, DeFi, Metaverse, and games, focusing on the Fantom ecosystem.
3. How did Hyperchain Capital get involved with Fantom?
In 2018, the most reputable crypto fund in Singapore, Signum Capital, introduced me to Fantom’s management. I was impressed by the team's vision and market approach, and accordingly, I decided we should collaborate on a long-term basis. Four years later, I have never been more excited about the strategy and execution of the team, especially as our values and philosophy perfectly align.
4. What makes you excited about Fantom?
Fantom has set an ambitious technical roadmap that culminates with the Fantom Virtual Machine (FVM), which will provide EVM compatibility while addressing Ethereum’s shortcomings. The FVM promises to be a game changer for smart contract execution over decentralized networks. It will be fast, efficient, and secure.
The consistency of the developers team is a critical factor sustaining my continued involvement in Fantom. They tend not to indulge in excessive hype and let their work speak for itself. I love that. My experiences investing in 90+ projects/businesses and founding two great companies I sold taught me that Fantom’s build rather than talk approach is the right one.
5. Where do you see Fantom in 2 years? In 5 years?
To me, it’s clear that the future is multichain and that Fantom will number among the projects that will dominate the crypto landscape.
In 2 years, I expect we’ll be very close, if not on the cusp of completing the FVM upgrade. I expect that Metaverse and Gaming teams will have realized that Fantom offers the right mix of scalability, low-cost, and high performance that those projects rely on for sophisticated dApps. Accordingly, we’ll see those types of dApps migrating en masse to Fantom.
Five years seems incredibly far away, but I think metaverse connectivity will be ubiquitous by then. As a fast Layer-1, Fantom will number among the top projects developers look to when innovating for Web3.
6. How is your experience using the Fantom network and dApps?
Last year, the Foundation members began discussing renewed focus on building user-friendly tools. Those discussions yielded, not least of all, the fWallet, which sets the standard for crypto wallet UX/UI. I feel that the wallet release inspired usability discussions and a renewed focus on user interface among Fantom devs.
Over the past months, we’ve seen numerous Fantom projects launch with highly sophisticated but easy-to-use dApps. Pair the Fantom network’s scalability, speed, and cost with a well-designed dApp with a streamlined interface, and you have a recipe for success.
7. Where do you think crypto will see the most growth heading into 2023?
At HyperChain Capital, we believe 2023 will be the year marking the boom of web3 with more and more brands and applications transforming themselves to provide more value to customers. Specifically, blockchain technology will not stand alone but become an infrastructural technology to provide the best experience to end users and consumers. Thus, the challenge and opportunity for Layer 1 networks will be to develop and compete in this market.
8. What is Hyperchain’s investment thesis in the current bear market?
This is our 3rd bear market. Based on our experience, it is the best time to research, dive deep into the specifics of current projects, and, more than ever, support portfolio projects. Our investment thesis is the same as when we started: HyperChain's philosophy is to do good as an early participant and consultant to Blockchain protocol projects and organizations that support innovative technologies through all ups and downs.
9. What needs to happen in crypto for sustained, long-term adoption?
When we talk about crypto, there are two things that we need to distinguish: crypto capital markets and crypto as a set of technologies. I think long-term sustained adoption of crypto would involve successful platforms/dApps which can attract users who are not only incentivized by financial gain.
10. Is there anything else you’d like to add that we did not ask?
The only constant in the crypto capital markets is change.
Want to apply to have your project considered?
To have your project considered by the pool of investors involved in the ecosystem, submit a pitch deck to: info@fantom.foundation
Please note that:
- VC firms affiliated with Fantom independently select projects for funding.
- Projects selected for funding will be contacted directly by VC firms at their discretion, in a process entirely removed from the Foundation.
- Because VC firms act independently from the Foundation, the Foundation cannot follow up on timelines or check the status of the review of a deck once it has been submitted.
