USV
@usv
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Union Square Ventures is a venture capital firm based in NYC. We invest at the edge of large markets being transformed by technological and societal pressures
Joined May 2008
This week we got together to share ideas on improving fundraising decks, unpack the OpenAI acquisition, and explore white space in social apps. Here’s what was OH @ USV.
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USV has been investing in the digital asset sector for over a decade. We believe that blockchain technology allows for the creation of open, transparent, and efficient marketplaces that deliver value to consumers and creators. USV also believes that most digital assets are not.
Today Uniswap Labs received a Wells notice from the SEC. And we're ready to fight. This is the latest political effort to target even the best actors in crypto like Uniswap and Coinbase. All Uniswap products and the Uniswap Protocol are unaffected.
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20 years in the making, we’ve distilled the essence of USV’s investment thesis: . USV invests at the edge of large markets being transformed by technological and societal pressures.
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A nuclear reactor in a shipping container? Check out USV's latest climate investment:.
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Yesterday USV sent 500 ETH to the Bright Moments DAO and got back one million BRT tokens. Here is why we did that:
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OH at @USV: a new experiment where an AI records our conversations during the current week, synthesizes themes from them and shares them with the world. Week of Apr 22:. 1/ Organismic approaches to carbon sequestration - synthetic biology platforms to design microorganisms that.
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1/ We believe that black lives matter and we oppose all forms of racism. We also recognize that the forces behind the incidents of the last few weeks are not new, but rather known and systemic. Therefore, we must confront the uncomfortable reality that we are part of the problem.
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We believe the internet’s future is open, social, & user-driven. That’s why we’re proud to co-lead @usetapestry's $5.75M Series A. Their Solana-based protocol turns social data into a public good, enabling developers to build vibrant apps—free from the walled gardens that have.
Thrilled to announce our $5.75M Series A led by @usv and @fabric_vc to to continue our mission in building the internet’s social graph. 🧵
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Thrilled to be supporting @the_matter_labs and @zksync to bring EVM-compatible programmability in zk-rollups to the Ethereum layer 2 scaling space:
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Today we are announcing our first two climate-related investments: @project_wren and @leapdex. Here’s @albertwenger’s blog post on how we are thinking about climate-related investing:
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Big news at @USV today! We're excited to introduce our 2019 funds, welcome @gillym and @nickgrossman to the partnership, and continue our commitment to support all 85 companies in the #USVNetwork. Read more here:
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We believe the future of A.I. will be shaped by the interplay of two of variables - leaving us with 4 alternative futures. These 4 Futures have informed our investments to date and will continue to do so. You can read about below:
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3/ We directly control who we hire at USV and who we invest in. Our commitment is to hire more black investors and back more black founders. We will share our data. Hold us accountable.
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We have been devastated all week by what is going on in Israel. Our colleagues in the venture capital industry drafted the statement below and asked us to sign onto it. We have, and are strongly aligned with it.
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1/ We're excited to announce our investment in @pluralisHQ, advancing "Actually Open AI" through decentralized, collaborative model training. USV and @coinfund_io co-led the $7.6M seed round, with @variantfund, @topology_vc, and others participating.
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Today we make the first of what we hope is many investments in biotech. We're thrilled to announce our investment in Humane Genomics, pioneering programmable synthetic viruses for cancer treatment! The company's groundbreaking digital design platform enables rapid development of
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While not every conversation at @USV leads to an investment, every investment can be traced back to an initial conversation. With the help of @usvlibrarian we’re taking these conversations public sooner. We call it OH @ USV. This week’s OH’s are all about creating lasting AI.
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USV colleagues @thedanigrant and @nickgrossman have synthesized some thoughts around the current state of Web 3.0. Read more here:
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Blockchain transactions should be seamless across any chain. @reservoir0x's Relay protocol makes this possible. With $500M+ in monthly cross-chain volume, we're thrilled to lead their Series A as they tackle blockchain fragmentation head-on.
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This week at OH @ USV: The case for remutualizing essential services, AI agents putting patients in control of their health data, decentralized AI breaking big tech’s grip, healthier digital habits, and the sweet spot for micropayments. 🧵.
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OH at @USV: a new experiment where an AI records our conversations during the current week, synthesizes themes from them and shares them with the world. Week of Apr 29:. 1/ Locally Hosted AI Models with Federated Learning: The team highlighted the use of locally hosted AI models,.
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1/ The most recent OH at @USV surfaced “The Unbundling of Platforms” as a major theme in our office last week. We asked @usvlibrarian to summarize that conversation for you.
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Two questions we like to ask during every portfolio review:. 1) Are they doing things right?.2) Are they doing the right thing?.
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"There is a clear ideal end state: Every person in the world can have access to an individual tutor on any topic they want to learn about.".
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Packed room at USV where @aweissman is kicking off our first ever PromptTopia with @jamiew, @fabianstelzer and 50+ engineers and hackers, artists and business people
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We are thrilled to welcome @jaredhecht to USV as a venture partner. We've worked closely w/ Jared for years and believe that he'll be a great partner both to USV and to entrepreneurs. More from Jared here:.
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2/ In the last sixteen years USV has invested in over 100 companies. In that time, we have backed very few founders who self-identify as black. We must do better.
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There's never been a vote around an investment the firm's history.
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"In order to break through and create new social applications in the age of AI, we need to get weird.".
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More on our investment in @anonplatform - infrastructure for modern "user agents" representing people on the internet:.
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1/ The Potential of State Memory in AI Chatbots: We find the concept of state memory in AI chatbots pretty interesting. It allows the chatbot to learn and remember our preferences over time, increasing its value and effectiveness with continued use. State memory creates a sunk.
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Want to come to a co-working day at USV? . We're re-launching usvwork where every month, we host a casual day where USV founders and friends co-work and co-hang in our office. Learn more here:
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A question on our minds: do the native properties of crypto (public, networked, commerce, identity, assets) make it uniquely suited to build really fun social experiences on? by @thedanigrant.
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We partnered with @variantfund to run a comprehensive compensation and hiring survey of our web3 companies. Pulling from over 1,000 data points, you can read about some of our findings here:.
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Heads up that USV will be launching our next Analyst Program hiring process after Labor Day - stay tuned for details and pls spread the word!
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Announcement: The USV Talent Network has launched! Interested in joining the #USVNetwork? Our Network GM, @bethanymarz explains the program, its benefits, and how to apply.
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Diners should enjoy the same kind of loyalty programming that they find in other categories, like travel. So we are excited to talk about our recent investment in @blackbird_xyz .
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We are thrilled to support @ceramicnetwork via the @3boxlabs Series A. Open, composable data FTW
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Building decarbonization is a key lever in fighting the climate crisis - announcing David Energy's Series A
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USV is very happy to finally be an investor in @justworksHR along with a terrific group of existing investors.
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We are excited to be welcoming @samecwilliams and the @ArweaveTeam to the #USVnetwork. We wrote about our investment here: and then archived it on the #permaweb with Arweave!
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Why USV is Joining the Libra Association: "It is our hope that Libra will serve as a major on-ramp to cryptocurrencies and cryptoassets, to the benefit of the entire ecosystem.".
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Two months ago, we made our first investment in biotech. Today, we believe we stand at the edge of a new era in the field. In the weeks ahead, we’ll be sharing more of the thinking behind it. OH @ USV:.
The internet started with mainframes only big companies could access. Biology is at that same inflection point.
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Honored to host @maggielove_ , @TuongvyLe12 and the @She__Fi community to discuss regulatory growth and challenges in Web3
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Please help us in welcoming @sofarsounds to the #USVNetwork! Read more about our Series C investment here:
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USV has been active in the blockchain and crypto space since 2011. We are now investing in token focused funds and you can learn more about our thought process here
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This year at our CEO Summit we shared some of our thinking around why we believe and invest in Trusted Brands. "Brands make promises to users. Trusted Brands keep their promises. Trust is a strategy." Read more here: #USVNetwork.
an idea @usv team has been tinkering with:. brands make promises to their users.trusted brands keep those promises.that's important b/c trust can be a strategy:.in offense, it's positioning to fill a trust gap.in defense, it's a moat and why users stay. ➡️
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Very excited to support @rish_neynar, @manan19 and the @neynarxyz team as they build the default tech stack for social protocols.
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Today we're excited to announce our investment in Cactos. Their vertically integrated approach combines battery hardware, management systems, and innovative financing to transform how commercial customers handle energy storage.
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Today @usv partner @albertwenger launches an online @skillshare class on Funding Your Business: Demystifying Venture Capital. Join for free:
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Awesome to see @TransitionVC launch -- super thoughtful and experienced team including USV alum @mona_alsubaei!.
For a while, Transition has been the sorta-kinda secret operation we couldn’t stop talking about in private. Today, we're excited to finally share Transition publicly and pull back the curtain on what we’ve been busy building! .
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Excited to see our portfolio company @primitives_xyz expand their footprint in Web3 social with the launch of the Primitives Protocol:.
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We are excited to welcome 3 new analysts to the @USV team! Please meet @HanelBaveja, @dgabeau and @hannahmurdoch_ and you can read each of their Welcome blog posts here:
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We are honored to lead @OdysseyEnergyS’ Series A financing, and to support the team’s efforts to empower renewable energy entrepreneurs in emerging markets .
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