Seattle-based blockchain-focused venture capital firm Bloccelerate VC has raised a $20 million fund, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The new fund is the second Bloccelerate has raised, building on $12 million it raised in 2020. The filing shows Bloccelerate is looking to add an additional $80 million to its new fund, which would bring the total to $100 million.
Bloccelerate CEO Kate Mitselmakher declined to comment on the new fund. Prior to founding Bloccelerate, Mitselmakher spent more than seven years at the research firm Gartner, according to her LinkedIn page.
Bloccelerate, founded in 2018, invests in startups that use blockchain technology. On its website, the firm says blockchain is building "trust over the wire," and the firm's mission is "to find, invest and support category-defining companies that leverage this groundbreaking 'trust over the wire' technology."
Bloccelerate has invested in the Bellevue-based cryptocurrency tax software company ZenLedger and the Mountain View, California-based infrastructure loan company Pontoro.
Multiple blockchain-focused startups have raised money in the Seattle area recently. Seattle-based Risc Zero, which allows developers to write decentralized applications using standard programming languages, raised $12 million in August. Renton-based blockchain and social media startup Peer, meanwhile, raised $14 million in July. Peer founder and CEO Tony Tran said at the time the startup would start talks in August to raise a Series A round of between $200 million and $300 million.
Seattle-area venture capital firms have been busy raising new funds this year as well. Seattle-based Madrona Venture Group raised $690 million for two new funds earlier this month. Seattle-based Flying Fish Partners closed a $70 million fund in May, and Maveron, which has offices in Seattle and San Francisco, closed a $225 million fund in May.
"In a tougher market like this, if you're good at picking them, it's a great time to invest in these acceleration-stage companies because there's probably a little better valuation scenario," Matt McIlwain, managing director at Madrona, said at the time of the firm's $690 million raise. "It's a great time to begin acceleration-stage investing."
