Bain Capital Ventures, Ripple Xpring invest $1m in 'untraditional' fund offering early-stage funding

Bain Capital Ventures and Ripple Xpring have invested a combined one million dollars in Robot Ventures, according to CoinDesk.  Robot will provide young crypto entrepreneurs with pre-seed capital, whiteboarding and product strategies, according to a blog post by Robot Venture's founder, Robert Leshner (who is also CEO of open-source DeFi protocol Compound Finance and has an existing network in the field).

Leshner has set up what he believes is the first crypto 'scout fund', a relatively new concept which differs from 'traditional' angel funds. The funding he offers startups is especially small—between $25,000 and $100,000 - but comes with the promise of future access to the fund's influential investors. Indeed, Leshner is required to inform investors of his choices.

Robot Ventures has already invested in two startups— at home crypto mining startup Coinmine and Point, a debit card and banking account. 

According to Point’s Patrick Mrozowski, “Robot Ventures is a cheat-code for fundraising and go-to-market strategy; having them on the cap table is essentially having an additional, experienced co-founder.”