Whilst the number of ICOs coming to market is continuing to fall – with a significant drop in activity first noticed over the summer months – according to one new report released this week by blockchain research outfit Diar, venture capital firms are now picking up the slack that has resulted from the general curb in enthusiasm surrounding the ICO fund-raising model.
For the first three quarters of 2018, “blockchain and crypto companies have raised nearly 3.9Bn through traditional VC – 280% more when compared to last year,” the Diar report states, whilst ICO fundraising itself currently sits levels not seen since May 2017.
Sourcing figures from Pitchbook, the Diar report also points out that the median investment brought by a VC in 2018 to a blockchain project now sits at around $2.5m – a figure which has climbed by over $1 million in comparison to 2017.
The largest ten such projects over 2018 raised a collective $1.8 bn, with all of these investments – except one – classified as a traditional equity investment, i.e. an injection of funds into the project in exchange for a percentage of direct ownership in the company in contrast to simple ownership of project native token which almost always implies no stake on the business itself or its revenues.
The Diar report also analyses the “50 most active investors which have invested into at least 8 blockchain companies,” and concludes that almost half of these investors (48%) are investing exclusively within blockchain projects.
