At a Glance
Variant Fund was founded in 2020 by Jesse Walden, Li Jin, and Spencer Noon as a crypto-native venture firm focused on the emerging ownership economy. The firm takes a thesis-driven approach to investing in web3 protocols and applications that enable users to own, earn from, and govern the products they use. Variant's investment philosophy centers on the belief that the internet's next evolution will be characterized by user ownership rather than platform extraction. The team combines deep crypto expertise with traditional venture experience, with founding partner Jesse Walden previously serving as an investor at Andreessen Horowitz's a16z crypto fund. Li Jin brings consumer internet expertise, having previously worked at Andreessen Horowitz's main fund focusing on marketplaces and creator economy companies. The firm has been particularly active in investing in creator economy platforms, decentralized finance protocols, and NFT marketplaces. Variant also publishes influential research and thought leadership content about the ownership economy, helping to shape discourse around web3's potential to redistribute value creation.
“Invests in the ownership economy - protocols that turn users into owners through tokens and decentralized governance.”
Variant Fund primarily invests at the Seed, Series A stages. This means they focus on companies that are building their initial product and finding product-market fit.
Variant Fund is headquartered in New York, NY. Many of their portfolio companies are also based in this region, though they invest across geographies.
Variant Fund focuses on investments in Web3, Consumer, Marketplace, Fintech. Their portfolio reflects deep expertise and networks within these sectors.
Variant Fund's typical investment check size ranges from $1M to $15M. Actual amounts may vary based on the stage, sector, and specific opportunity.
Variant Fund manages approximately $450M in assets under management (AUM) across their funds.