[TechCrunch] Syndicate raises ‘informal' round from over 50 partners to bring DAOs to the masses

Originally posted on TechCrunch

By Anita Ramaswamy

Web3 startup Syndicate‘s goal is to demystify the DAO (decentralized autonomous organization). Its “Web3 Investment Clubs” product, which TechCrunch covered in January, lets users spin up an investment group with their peers by pooling their capital together and voting on how to allocate the funds.

Since the product launched three months ago, more than 1,100 investment clubs have been created on Syndicate’s platform, the company says. In addition to sharing its progress, Syndicate just announced that it has raised $6 million in a strategic investment from more than 50 of its customers and partners.

The raise includes strategic investors such as Carta, Circle Ventures, OpenSea and Uniswap Labs’ new venture arm, as well as institutional funds-of-funds, nonprofits and web3 talent networks. The new round brings its total funding to just over $28 million, the company says, including $20 million it bagged in a Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz last August.

Although the round comes just after that Series A, it’s not a traditionally structured Series B round, Syndicate co-founder Ian Lee told Coindesk, referring to it as an “informal customers and strategic partners raise closed in a matter of weeks.”