Rally founders launch crypto venture studio backed by a16z partner

Two blockchain entrepreneurs have launched a new cryptocurrency fund designed to bootstrap promising Web 3 startups, sending a strong signal that venture capital is eyeing the next builders of the decentralized internet. 

On Friday, Kevin Chou and Mahesh Vellanki unveiled SuperLayer, a crypto venture studio building Web 3 projects directly on the Rally network, a crypto-social platform that lets creators and artists launch their own digital currencies. The venture studio will launch projects in-house before recruiting product managers to further develop the business.

Notably, SuperLayer has received backing from big-name investors, including Marc Andreessen of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, Chris Dixon, Paris Hilton, Nas, Michael Ovitz, Carter Reum and others. Initially, SuperLayer will deploy $25 million in seed investments and will continue to raise funds on an ongoing basis.

Kevin Chou was featured in The Cointelegraph Top 100 for 2020 in the category of adoption. Prior to co-founding Rally with colleague Mahesh Vellanki in 2018, Chou was at the helm of Kabam, an e-sports gaming company that sold for $1 billion in 2017.

Related: Crypto platform Rally commits $12M to third-party developers

Marc Andreessen’s Andreesen Horowitz has been behind some of the biggest crypto funding rounds. As Cointelegraph reported, blockchain platform Alchemy recently concluded a $250 million Series C investment round that was led by the Silicon Valley venture firm. Earlier this year, the firm launched the biggest-ever crypto venture fund valued at $2.2 billion.

As Cointelegraph reported, Andreesen’s crypto fund recently recruited two prominent engineers from Facebook to join the firm as chief technology officer and chief information security officer, respectively. Facebook, meanwhile, has rebranded to Meta, reflecting its broadening ambitions beyond social media and into Web 3 and augmented reality experiences.