axiom seeking to raise $75m for second venture fund

We founded Axiom on the back of a simple realization. Cofounders Allen Farrington and Anders Larson were long-time Bitcoiners working in asset management roles, and had tracked the growth of Bitcoin, the asset, across many years. While price was the most obvious measure of success and adoption, at that time we began to notice the sprouts of an exciting and robust economy around Bitcoin, the network, as well. In short, we realized that there was a real opportunity to make venture investments focused on the Bitcoin ecosystem. The network, the infrastructure, and the community were all mature enough to support such a specialized avenue for capital allocation.

For all these positives, the greatest attraction was that the wider world had no idea. Worse even than ignorance, at the time many were enamored with nonsensical boondoggles and scams. Indeed, it was while writing Only The Strong Survive across the summer of 2021 that we started to realize how misunderstood the Bitcoin opportunity really was.

We got Axiom up and running at almost the precise moment everything we warned about in Only The Strong Survive came true; interlocking schemes of pointless and self-referential securitization, rehypothecation, and leverage, with no productive capital supporting this caricature of financialization, came crashing down to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars in nominal value destroyed. There was certainly a bittersweet feeling in getting cold receptions for our inaugural fundraising effort because of exactly what we said was going to happen.

Not to be deterred, we raised and deployed our first fund with investments spanning 2022-2024. We couldn’t be prouder of the teams we have backed, building through the bear market and coming out stronger. In many cases, those teams were running the infrastructure that newer companies rely on for their own products or services: exactly our initial thesis.

With Bitcoin seemingly heading into its quadrennial bull market, with new opportunities appearing faster than ever, and with Fund 1 investments likely seeking additional capital in the not-too-distant future, we are excited to announce that we are seeking to raise $75m for our second venture fund.

Our thesis is straightforward: Bitcoin is the most important innovation in our lifetime and it will eventually touch every process in finance, energy, and software. In order to reach this level of adoption, normalization, and even obfuscation, a vast amount of infrastructure will have to be built. The companies that build this successfully will be enabling the transition to a Bitcoin standard, and therefore will be the first to make this transition themselves. Any positive return these companies generate will, by definition, outperform Bitcoin. We believe that a well-run, diligent, and concentrated allocation to the best companies building on Bitcoin is amongst the best long-term investment one can make besides Bitcoin itself, and in our view, the best way to positively impact Bitcoin’s appreciation is to make exactly this investment.

Furthermore, we believe this is not at all well understood. The wider traditional finance community may have become temporarily excited by ETFs, but most couldn’t tell you the first thing about Lightning, mining, or Nostr, amongst many other avenues of frenetic innovation. In our minds, this underscores the imperative for Bitcoin founders to raise capital prudently. In our view, nothing will destroy a Bitcoin company faster than an investor pressuring the founding team to issue a token. We believe that this is the core of our competitive advantage: we are respected not only as Bitcoin investors, but as Bitcoiners.

We are therefore excited to be bringing on Matt Kita as general partner, James O’Beirne as technical advisor, and Adam Back as strategic advisor. Matt has extensive experience in fintech with FIS and Worldpay, and in Bitcoin with BitGo and Cathedra, where he is now a board member. James O’Beirne is a long-time Bitcoin Core contributor and currently a senior engineer at NYDIG. Adam Back surely needs no introduction, but in case the reader is unaware, he is the co-founder and CEO of Blockstream, as well as the inventor of HashCash, a proof-of-work algorithm cited by Satoshi Nakamoto in the Bitcoin white paper and integral to the protocol’s design.

As we grow Fund 2, we look forward to adding additional intellectual firepower to our team, to understanding the continued development of infrastructure extending Bitcoin’s utility, and, of course, in backing new companies beyond those from Fund 1. If you would like to be a part of what we are building, please contact us here.

Axiom

July 2024

This communication is not an offer to sell or invest in a strategy or investment vehicle (each a “Fund”) managed or sponsored by Axiom Venture Management LLC or its affiliates (“Axiom”), or any other security.  Such an offer will only be made pursuant to the delivery of the related organizational and offering documents for a Fund (the “Organizational Documents”), which will be furnished to qualified investors only.  The information contained herein does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by the applicable Organizational Documents. 

Reference to Fund 1 refers to Axiom Venture Fund I LP managed by Axiom principals Anders Larson and Allen Farrington while at Axiom Venture Partners Ltd, an affiliate of Axiom. 

The applicable Organizational Documents of a Fund describe certain risks and other important information and should be reviewed carefully before deciding to invest in such Fund.  Such investment is only suitable for sophisticated investors and requires the financial ability and willingness to accept the high risks and the lack of liquidity inherent in such investment.  Prospective investors must be prepared to bear such risks for an indefinite period of time.  Each prospective investor should consult its own attorney, business advisor and tax advisor as to legal, business and tax advice. 

Except where otherwise indicated herein, the information provided herein is based on matters as they exist as of the date of preparation and not as of any future date and will not be updated to reflect information that subsequently becomes available, or circumstances existing or changes occurring after the date hereof.

Much of the information included herein is based on Axiom’s view of general market activity, industry or sector trends or other broad-based economic, market or political conditions.  There is no guarantee that the views and opinion expressed in this presentation will occur.  Such views and information should not be viewed, or relied on, as research of investment advice.

This communication contains forward-looking statements. Any statement concerning future events, expectations, estimates, projections, opinions or beliefs, express or implied, is a forward-looking statement. Words such as “may,” “will,” “seek,” “should,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “target,” “indicative,” “project,” “estimate,” “intend,” “continue,” or “believe” or the negatives thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, and undue reliance should not be placed thereon. There can be no assurance that any expectations, express or implied, in a forward-looking statement will prove correct or that the contemplated event or result will occur as anticipated. 

Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.  No representation is being made that any investment will or is likely to achieve comparable results or targeted returns similar to those achieved in the past, or that significant losses will be avoided.  Past or targeted portfolio characteristics or returns are not indicative of future portfolio characteristics or returns and there can be no assurance that a Fund will have comparable portfolio characteristics or returns and or that target portfolio characteristics will be achieved.