VanEck and Brevan Howard Digital lead $5 million round into startup Legion looking to revamp ICOs

VanEck and Brevan Howard Digital are leading a relatively small round into Legion, a startup with pretty large ambitions. According to an announcement on Wednesday, Legion is looking to rewrite the rules of capital formation, this time involving the small-time retail traders traditionally exempted from the IPO process.

Like other blockchain-based crowdfunding initiatives — beginning with the unstructured playing field of initial coin offerings (ICOs) in 2017 to today’s more mature platforms like CoinList and Echo, brought to you by Crypto Twitter’s “Cobie” — Legion is offering a platform where startups can sell tokens to small-time traders.

“Our mission is simple: build the most trusted brand in onchain capital formation, and bring the most promising deals to public and institutional investors,” co-founders Fabrizio Giabardo and Matt O’Connor wrote on X.

In short, Legion is building a system that provides for the “next generation of public offerings,” particularly offerings onchain.

The move comes amid a rebirth for token launches in the U.S. Last week, for instance, Bitcoin Layer 2 Bitlayer sold tokens to the public across three oversubscribed rounds, while just today Lombard launched its native BARD token in a community sale that valued the project at $450 million.

This includes a toolset for offering “new asset classes like tokenized equity” that could benefit from “bigger and better deals,” “mass distribution partners,” and “a full-stack token launch partner,” the latter of which can assist with landing CEX listings, market makers, and go-to-market showcases.

In other words, the ICO days are back — but with professional assistance, ideally. According to Fortune, Legion’s founders have met with the SEC to discuss what disclosures the agency should require for public sales.

“It’s not just a tech shift. It’s a chance to rewrite who gets funded… and who gets to invest,” Giabardo and O’Connor wrote. “For decades, capital formation has been rigged for the elite. Now we have the tools to break the old system.”

In addition to heavy hitters like VanEck and Brevan Howard, Legion has attracted capital from several exchanges, including Coinbase, Crypto.com, and Kraken. Cyber-fund, Blockchain Builders, and GSR are also backers.