Funding Roundup: The secret formula to Portal Ventures’ success

Portal Ventures unveiled that it raised $75 million for an oversubscribed second fund earlier this week. 

Evan Fisher and Catrina Wang told Blockworks there was a lot of demand for the fund — which could come in slightly over $90 million. The firm, which focuses on pre-seed investing, has carved out a niche of being high conviction, Wang said. 

The fund only invests in one project per category, which allows for the fund to lend full support to its investment.

The secret formula that’s worked for Portal, Wang said, is a combination of three elements: the “best” founder and tracking down a thesis that’s only just emerging and the third is the “network to king make.”

For Fisher, there’s “something very special about being someone’s first believer” and watching them execute on an idea. 

The two launched their first fund in early 2022, which may not have started in rough waters but certainly ended in them as crypto struggled to survive the collapse of FTX and the depegging of Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin. 

This time around, it was also difficult for Fisher and Wang to raise their fund. They started at the beginning of the year, which was well before bitcoin was carving out new daily all-time highs. Though, clearly, they’re facing a different environment as they look to put the money to work. 

The second fund is bigger than the first — which was a $40 million fund — and it speaks to their overall high-risk, high-reward strategy, Fisher said.

“We try to really generate signal for the industry,” Fisher told Blockworks. 

Other notable news:

• Notabene said it raised $14.5 million in a Series B round. Apollo, Nextblock and Wintermute all participated in the rounds. 
• Arca announced its intent to merge with Blocktower
• Alluvial said it raised $4.3 million in a round led by Variant. Brevan Howard Digital, Ethereal Ventures and F-Prime Capital all participated in the round. 
• Kaiko announced that it acquired European crypto index provider Vinter for an undisclosed amount.
• Eidon said it raised $3.5 million in a seed round led by Framework Ventures. Cyberfund participated in the round.

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