About Placeholder
Placeholder is a venture capital firm founded in 2017. It is primarily based out of New York City, United States. As of Feb 2026, Placeholder is an active investor, having invested in 66 companies, with 2 new investments in the last 12 months. It primarily invests in Series A round in United States based startups. Its investments are spread across a wide range of sectors from Blockchain Technology to High Tech and FinTech. Most recently it participated in the $***** Seed round of Finrob Overall, Placeholder portfolio has seen 2 unicorns, 1 IPO and 1 acquisition including key companies like Bitcoin, Aleo and Monad Labs. A lot of funds co-invest with Placeholder, with names like Protocol Labs sharing a substantial percentage of its portfolio. Placeholder has team of 8 people including 5 partners.Key Metrics
Team Members
Portfolio Sectors
Portfolio Locations
Rounds of Entry
Series A, Seed & 1 more
Portfolio IPOs
Portfolio Acquisitions
Portfolio Unicorns
Portfolio Soonicorns
Placeholder's List of Top Investments
Placeholder has a portfolio of 66 companies, including 2 unicorns. Their most notable investments are in Futureswap and Backpack Exchange.Their portfolio spans across United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland and 11 more locations. They have invested in Blockchain Technology, High Tech, FinTech and 10 other sectors, across stages such as Series A, Seed and 1 more. Here is the list of top investments by Placeholder:1. Polygon
Developer of scalable blockchain interoperability protocols. It offers a suite of solutions, including cross-chain protocols and zero-knowledge (ZK) rollups, designed to enhance the scalability and security of blockchain networks. These protocols enable seamless asset transfer and interaction across different blockchains, improving the overall user experience. The company also provides developer tools and resources to support the creation of decentralized applications (dApps) on its platform. It fosters a vibrant developer community and offers grant programs to encourage innovation within the ecosystem.
Key facts about Polygon
- Founded Year: 2017
- Location: George Town (Cayman Islands)
- Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Series B
- Total Funding till date: $451M
- Employee Count: 399 as on Mar 31, 2026
- Investors: World Capital Holdings Group, SoftBank Group and 62 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series B, Feb 02, 2022, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
2. Bitcoin
Decentralized P2P cryptocurrency for payments. It is based on the Bitcoin Blockchain. It enables users to send, receive, and make payments using digital currencies. It allows transfers through wallets, exchanges, events, and more.
Key facts about Bitcoin
- Founded Year: 2009
- Location: Las Vegas (United States)
- Stage: Public
- Total Funding till date: $100M
- Employee Count: 2 as on Jan 31, 2026
- Investors: 2020 Ventures, World Capital Holdings Group and 78 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Post IPO, Oct 21, 2021, $*****
- Highlight: Public
3. Aleo
Blockchain-based network for developers. Its features of the platform include a zero-knowledge IDE, package manager, etc. The platform features enable developers to build custom cross-platform mobile applications.
Key facts about Aleo
- Founded Year: 2019
- Location: San Francisco (United States)
- Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Series B
- Total Funding till date: $228M
- Employee Count: 149 as on Mar 31, 2026
- Investors: Tiger Global Management, A.Capital Ventures and 19 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series B, Mar 05, 2025, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
4. Matter Labs
Finance infrastructure for blockchain privacy with verifiable computation. It is based on zero-knowledge technologies that allow untrusted parties to prove their integrity through the protocol.
Key facts about Matter Labs
- Founded Year: 2019
- Location: Berlin (Germany)
- Stage: Series C
- Total Funding till date: $458M
- Employee Count: 94 as on Mar 31, 2026
- Investors: Lightspeed Venture Partners, Andreessen Horowitz and 19 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series C, Nov 16, 2022, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
5. Zerion
Decentralized platform for financial services. It provides blockchain-based protocols for decentralized finance. It offers asset management with automatic tracking of BTC, ETH, and ERC-20 tokens. It allows users to send, receive and invest ETH and BTC from a wallet interface. Its services include trading, borrowing, investing, and saving.
Key facts about Zerion
- Founded Year: 2016
- Location: San Francisco (United States)
- Stage: Series B
- Total Funding till date: $22.5M
- Employee Count: 67 as on Mar 31, 2026
- Investors: Mosaic Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners and 27 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series B, Aug 17, 2022, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
Placeholder's Year-on-Year Investment Trends
Placeholder has invested in 66 companies over the last 7 years, with an average of 6 new investments annually in the last 5 years. In 2025, it made 1 investment, while as of Feb 2026, it has made 1 investment in this year. Its most recent first time investment was in Finrob and most recent follow-on round was in Celestia.Year | No. of Investments | ||
|---|---|---|---|
1st Round | Follow-on | Total | |
2026 (YTD) | 1 | 0 | 1 |
2025 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
2024 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
2023 | 11 | 0 | 11 |
2022 | 8 | 1 | 9 |
2021 | 7 | 2 | 9 |
2020 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
2019 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Placeholder's Investments by Stage
Placeholder has made 20 investments in Series A stage with an average round size of $17M, 17 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $5.86M and 2 investments in Series B stage with an average round size of $22M.Stage of entry | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Series A | 20 |
Seed | 17 |
Series B | 2 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Placeholder's Investments by Sector
Placeholder has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Blockchain Technology, High Tech, FinTech, Blockchain - Industry Applications and Enterprise Applications. Notably, it has invested in 62 Tech companies, 52 Blockchain companies, 41 Enterprise (B2B) companies and at least 35 companies focusing on Consumer (B2C).Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Blockchain Technology | 33 |
High Tech | 28 |
FinTech | 20 |
Blockchain - Industry Applications | 17 |
Enterprise Applications | 17 |
Others | 20 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Placeholder's Investments by Geography
Placeholder has made most investments in United States (23), followed by United Kingdom where it has made 3 investments.Country | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
United States | 23 |
United Kingdom | 3 |
Cayman Islands | 2 |
Finland | 2 |
Greece | 2 |
Others | 7 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Placeholder's recent investments
Placeholder has made 1 investments in 2026 so far - Finrob.Here are the most recent investments by Placeholder:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Feb 25, 2026 | - | Seed | 4012 | [+4] | |
Nov 06, 2025 | Switzerland | Seed | 1612 | ||
Sep 23, 2024 | Liechtenstein | Series C | 2443 | [+3] | |
Jul 05, 2024 | United States | Series A | 2376 | [+10] | |
Jun 10, 2024 | United Kingdom | Series A | 9184 | [+4] |
Unicorns in Placeholder's Portfolio
Placeholder has 2 unicorns in its portfolio - Monad Labs and Aleo. The most recent unicorn in their portfolio is Monad Labs. It became a unicorn in 2024, 1 years after Placeholder first invested in it.Here is a list of unicorns in Placeholder's portfolio:
Tracxn Score | Company | Short Description | Founded year | Sector | Location | Company Stage | First Investment/ Acquisition Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
50 | Decentralized, developer forward layer1 smart contract platform | 2022 | New York City | Series A | ornjhmw | ||
73 | Blockchain-based network for developers | 2019 | San Francisco | Series B | izzyegj |
IPOs and Publicly Listed companies in Placeholder's Portfolio
1 of Placeholder's portfolio company became public - Bitcoin. It got listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), in Feb 2021.Here are Placeholder's portfolio companies that went public:
Company | IPO Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Feb 18, 2021 | - | - | 9870 |
Acquired companies in Placeholder's Portfolio
1 company from Placeholder's portfolio has been acquired. The most recent acquisition were Vault in Jul 2024 by DRiP.Here are Placeholder's portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jul 01, 2024 | Feb 09, 2023 | Series A | 3229 |
Team profile of Placeholder
Placeholder has a team of 8 members including 5 Partners and 1 Principal located in United States and Estonia. Placeholder's team does not sit on the board of any company as of now.Here is a list of all team members in Placeholder:
Name | Designation | Location | Board Memberships | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Partner | New York City | - | ||
Partner | New York City | - | ||
Partner | New York City | - | ||
Partner | San Francisco | - | ||
Partner | Brooklyn | - | - | |
Principal | Estonia | - |
Co-investors of Placeholder
Over the past 7 years, 427 investors have co-invested in Placeholder's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Invested before Placeholder: 1kx, Maven 11 and 98 others have invested in rounds before Placeholder. There are 4 companies where 1kx has invested before Placeholder and 4 companies where Maven 11 has invested before Placeholder.
- Top Co-investors of Placeholder: 245 investors entered a company along with Placeholder. These include investors like Protocol Labs (5 companies).
- Invested after Placeholder: A total of 82 investors have invested in Placeholder's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include Coinbase (4 companies), Tiger Global Management (2 companies) and OKX (2 companies).
Recent News related to Placeholder
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Arx Research Launches Burner Terminal; Raises $6.1M in FundingFinSMEs•Nov 06, 2025•Arx, Seed Club Ventures, Inflection, 1kx and 4 others
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Celestia’s TIA jumps 14% following new funding roundBitcoin Ethereum News•Sep 24, 2024•Celestia, Syncracy, 1kx, Robvc and 1 other
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Modular Blockchain Celestia Raises $100M to Expand High-throughput SupportBitcoin Ethereum News•Sep 24, 2024•Celestia, Bain Capital Crypto, Syncracy, 1kx and 4 others
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Shared sorting network Astria completes $12.5 million financing, led by dba and Placeholder VCPANews•Jul 01, 2024•Astria, Placeholder, RockawayX, Maven 11 and 4 others
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Estonian fund Metaplanet invests in WeatherXM and NeurableAIN.Capital•Jun 26, 2024•WeatherXM, Neurable, Metaplanet, Skype and 11 others
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Squads Labs Raises $10M Series A, Unveils Smart Wallet for Public Testing on iOSCryptonews•Jun 10, 2024•Squads Labs, Electric Capital, RockawayX, Coinbase and 6 others
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Coinbase Launches Smart Wallets To Simplify Crypto OnboardingBenzinga•Jun 06, 2024•Coinbase, Squads Labs, Electric Capital, Placeholder and 2 others
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WeatherXM Raises $7.7M in Series A FundingFinSMEs•May 22, 2024•WeatherXM, Faction VC, Protocol Labs, Borderless Capital and 19 others
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Botanix Labs raises $8.5 million to build a Bitcoin-native DeFi ecosystemThe Block•May 07, 2024•Botanix Labs, Polychain, Placeholder, Valor Equity Partners and 2 others
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Binance Labs Invests in Movement Labs to Bring Smart Contract Security and Parallelization to EthereumCryptonews•May 02, 2024•Binance Labs, Movement Labs, OKX, Polychain and 14 others
