Robot Ventures

Robot Ventures is a venture capital firm established in 2019 and based in New York, specializing in early-stage investments in the fintech and blockchain sectors. The firm focuses on (pre-)seed funding for innovative companies that are led by founders with ambitious visions and unconventional perspectives. By targeting exceptional startups within the cryptocurrency and financial technology domains, Robot Ventures aims to support and nurture transformative ideas that challenge traditional business models.

Robert Leshner

Co-Founder and Partner

Past deals in Smart Contracts

Optimum

Seed Round in 2025
Optimum constitutes a decentralized, high-performance memory infrastructure tailored for use across various blockchains.

Fragmetric

Seed Round in 2025
Fragmetric is a technology company specializing in blockchain infrastructure. It has developed a native liquid restaking mechanism for the Solana ecosystem, designed to bolster security and economic potential. The company's protocol facilitates precise conversion between deposited assets and minted tokens, optimizing staking rewards, maximal extractable value, and revenues from node consensus networks. This enables users to stake assets, provide liquidity, or trade on decentralized exchanges while supporting network stability.

Ligero

Seed Round in 2025
Ligero, Inc. specializes in developing a privacy platform that facilitates secure and private collaboration on and off blockchain technology. Incorporated in 2018 and based in Pittsford, New York, the company offers a lightweight and scalable protocol for secure multiparty computation and zero-knowledge proofs. This enables clients to engage in confidential transactions, implement private smart contracts, and conduct secure auctions for decentralized exchanges and dark pools. Additionally, Ligero supports private and verifiable machine learning, enhancing the capabilities of its platform for various applications in the blockchain ecosystem.

GTE

Seed Round in 2025
GTE is a decentralized trading platform that offers end-to-end trading services.

Exponent Finance

Seed Round in 2024
Exponent Finance is a Solana Network DeFi fixed price market that creates time-locked tokens that can generate set returns or be traded for yield.

Phylax Systems

Seed Round in 2024
Phylax Systems is the operator of an open-source protocol platform designed to avoid hacking. Phylax System's platform censors hacks on L2 networks and supports all Ethereum virtual machine chains, giving corporations the confidence to invest in the decentralized market.

Semantic Layer

Seed Round in 2024
Semantic Layer improves incentive alignment in dApps, enabling MEV internationalization and sequencing sovereignty.

Celestia

Series B in 2024
Celestia is a provider of modular blockchain networks based in Vaduz, Liechtenstein. Founded in 2019, the company specializes in deploying decentralized blockchains without the need for extensive initial setup. Celestia's platform serves as a scalable data availability layer for decentralized applications and sidechains with minimal trust requirements. This allows developers to efficiently store and manage blockchain data collectively, optimizing performance for various applications.

Huma

Venture Round in 2024
Huma is a decentralized finance platform that facilitates lending for businesses and individuals by connecting high-performing receivables with global financing. The company provides a transparent and accessible financial infrastructure, allowing clients to tokenize and trade cash flow using credit on the blockchain. Huma's innovative approach enables users to secure loans against tokens as collateral, fostering a thriving ecosystem for managing and leveraging assets in a digital format.

Ammalgam

Seed Round in 2024
Ammalgam is a technology company that specializes in decentralized finance (DeFi). It has developed a unique platform, the Decentralized Lending Exchange (DLEX), which combines lending and trading functionalities into a single protocol. This innovative solution enables users to increase their yield, unlock new utility, and enhance capital efficiency by integrating these services without the need for oracles. The platform allows market makers to provide liquidity to and borrow from the same contract, making it a comprehensive and efficient tool for DeFi participants.

G8keep

Pre Seed Round in 2024
G8keep is a Web3 token platform that allows consumers to discover and trade with all Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) networks.

zkMe

Seed Round in 2024
zkMe operates a verification network platform that focuses on managing online identity and personal information through zero-knowledge Identity Oracles. This technology enables truly decentralized and anonymous cross-chain credential verifications, ensuring that users maintain full control over their digital identities. By processing no personal information beyond what the user provides, zkMe eliminates the risks of data leaks and misuse by service providers. The platform allows users to selectively disclose their credentials to authorized parties while preserving their privacy. Additionally, zkMe stands out as a fully decentralized KYC provider compliant with FATF regulations, offering a comprehensive suite of products, including solutions for anti-bot and anti-sybil measures, along with KYC services.

Sorella Labs

Seed Round in 2024
Sorella Labs is a technology company specializing in blockchain solutions. It is developing a decentralized protocol for on-chain liquidity markets, with a primary focus on addressing the Maximum Extractable Value (MEV) issues prevalent in the Ethereum ecosystem. The company employs advanced algorithms and blockchain analytics to identify and mitigate MEV-related attacks, ensuring fair transaction prices for DeFi users and enhancing the overall security and efficiency of the Ethereum network.

Conduit

Series A in 2024
Conduit operates as a platform focused on providing crypto native infrastructure aimed at supporting developers in the cryptocurrency space. The company collaborates with leading crypto engineering teams to develop a comprehensive suite of tools that facilitate the creation, deployment, and maintenance of smart contracts, particularly on the Ethereum network. By offering a visual programming environment, Conduit enables developers to build, test, and deploy smart contracts efficiently, utilizing various programming languages and libraries. This streamlined approach enhances the overall development process, empowering builders in the rapidly evolving field of cryptocurrency.

Movement Labs

Series A in 2024
Movement Labs is a modular framework platform that builds and deploys move-based blockchains and applications in distributed settings. Its platform offers a composable and horizontally scalable network that provides unparalleled smart contract security and asset portability to help users solve the cold start problem with unprecedented interoperability.

Monad

Series A in 2024
MONAD is a proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain and decentralized computation platform that combines the best of performance and portability.

Clique

Series A in 2024
Clique operates as a technology company focused on bridging web-two user behaviors with web-three applications through its identity wallet and compute coordination network. The company organizes diverse computing resources, which include co-processors for verifiable computations, oracles for data integration from various online sources, and specialized hardware tailored for privacy and secure computation. This infrastructure allows applications to efficiently access and leverage these resources while accommodating varying needs for trust, privacy, performance, and cost. Additionally, Clique's wallet incorporates privacy-preserving oracles and zero-knowledge proofs, enabling creators, sports figures, and brands to effectively manage interactions with their superfans, incentivize engagement, and explore shared ownership models. The company has secured over $11 million in funding from notable investors, enhancing its capabilities and growth potential.

INIT Capital

Seed Round in 2024
INIT Capital operates a liquidity hook money market designed to streamline access to unified liquidity for end users and decentralized applications (dApps). The company focuses on facilitating decentralized finance (DeFi) activities, including lending, borrowing, and yield strategies. By serving as a liquidity layer, INIT Capital enables users to effectively engage in various financial operations while managing and accessing yield strategies within dApps. This approach aims to enhance user experience and foster a range of use cases within the DeFi ecosystem.

Axiom

Series A in 2024
Axiom enables smart contracts to securely compute over Ethereum's whole history, including transactions and receipts. Developers can send on-chain queries to Axiom, which are automatically completed with ZK-verified responses delivered back to the developer's smart contract.

Kinto

Seed Round in 2023
Kinto is the KYC'ed Layer 2 capable of supporting both modern financial institutions and decentralized protocols.

Fhenix

Seed Round in 2023
Fhenix is a pioneering company that has developed the first private blockchain utilizing completely homomorphic encryption. This technology allows Ethereum developers to create encrypted smart contracts and conduct computations on encrypted data while using familiar tools such as Solidity. Fhenix specializes in enhancing data security and privacy through its homomorphic encryption capabilities, which enable applications in various domains, including trustless gaming, private voting mechanisms—both on-chain and off-chain—privacy-preserving artificial intelligence, and confidential token transfers. By optimizing these functionalities, Fhenix aims to provide robust solutions that enhance user trust and data confidentiality in the blockchain ecosystem.

Essential

Seed Round in 2023
Essential is focused on developing intent-based infrastructure and tools aimed at facilitating the shift from value extraction to intent satisfaction. The company creates core components of intent-centric infrastructure that promote ecosystem-wide composability, ensuring that the intent paradigm is fully realized. This approach seeks to reduce extractive practices while enhancing user satisfaction. Essential's offerings include a domain-specific language for expressing intent and a blockchain protocol centered on intent. Through these innovations, Essential aims to empower clients to navigate and utilize intent-driven frameworks effectively.

Freatic

Seed Round in 2023
Freatic is a technology company that specializes in creating decentralized information exchange protocols. Its primary business is to connect individuals with untapped knowledge to those who can capitalize on this information, thereby fostering the growth of untapped information marketplaces. The company employs strategies such as decentralization, game theory, and current cryptography to achieve this.

Bastion

Seed Round in 2023
Bastion is a developer of an enterprise-focused web3 orchestrator platform designed to enhance digital interactions for businesses and their customers. By integrating web2 and web3 technologies, the company provides a secure and compliant infrastructure that enables organizations to create innovative solutions for payments, engagement, and commerce. Bastion's platform offers insights through proprietary data analytics, facilitating the monetization of digital goods, smart transaction routing, and customer analytics. This approach allows businesses to unlock new opportunities and improve customer experiences in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Ellipsis Labs

Seed Round in 2023
Ellipsis Labs is a technology company specializing in decentralized finance (DeFi). It is developing Phoenix, a decentralized limit order book exchange on the Solana blockchain. Phoenix is fully on-chain, non-custodial, and does not require a central order book. It enables users to trade cryptocurrencies by placing limit orders, allowing for more precise price execution.

Olympix

Seed Round in 2023
Olympix is a startup focused on enhancing security in the Web3 landscape. The company has developed an innovative tool that identifies and automatically resolves vulnerabilities in clients' code in real-time. Its platform incorporates security intelligence and a comprehensive vulnerability database, allowing clients to address potential security issues efficiently. This approach helps prevent costly smart contract rewrites and mitigates the risk of irreparable damage, enabling clients to maintain robust security at scale while preserving the integrity of the Web3 environment.

Berachain

Series A in 2023
Berachain is a blockchain development company focused on creating an Ethereum-compatible platform designed for financial applications. Its innovative technology allows for the use of staked assets within decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, enhancing on-chain liquidity and capital efficiency. The company employs a proof of liquidity consensus mechanism to ensure sybil resistance, which fosters alignment of network incentives between validators and various projects within its ecosystem. By leveraging staked assets like staked ether, Berachain enables these locked assets to support the network's security while simultaneously facilitating their use in DeFi applications. This approach aims to provide clients with robust blockchain services that promote quality and efficiency in financial transactions.

Cubist

Seed Round in 2023
Cubist is a developer of a web3 key management platform that aims to enhance the safety and efficiency of building decentralized applications (dapps). Its modular toolkit allows users to swiftly create, test, and deploy multi-chain and cross-chain dapps through automated pipelines that manage keys and sequencing. By integrating modern software engineering practices with robust security measures, Cubist facilitates the development of secure cross-chain applications from a single program, catering to the needs of web3 builders.

Huma

Seed Round in 2023
Huma is a decentralized finance platform that facilitates lending for businesses and individuals by connecting high-performing receivables with global financing. The company provides a transparent and accessible financial infrastructure, allowing clients to tokenize and trade cash flow using credit on the blockchain. Huma's innovative approach enables users to secure loans against tokens as collateral, fostering a thriving ecosystem for managing and leveraging assets in a digital format.

Curio Research

Seed Round in 2023
Curio Research is a developer of blockchain games that emphasizes user-generated content and rich social interactions. By leveraging blockchain technology and smart contracts, the company creates on-chain games that allow players to co-create governance structures and economic systems. This innovative approach empowers players to draft game rules and engage with one another in dynamic ways, enhancing their creative experiences within the gaming environment. Curio Research aims to unlock new types of gameplay that foster collaboration and creativity among its user base.

Renegade

Seed Round in 2023
Renegade operates as an on-chain dark pool, distinguishing itself from traditional non-custodial decentralized exchanges by ensuring complete anonymity throughout the trading process. The platform employs advanced technologies such as multiparty computation and zero-knowledge proofs, facilitating a trustless trading environment that enhances price execution. This system effectively mitigates issues like front-running and sandwich attacks, allowing sophisticated traders to achieve superior pricing. By utilizing peer-to-peer order matching and atomic settlement of transactions, Renegade provides a secure and efficient platform for dark pool trading.

Sovereign Labs

Seed Round in 2023
Sovereign Labs operates a blockchain platform focused on enhancing user experience and scalability within the blockchain community. It offers a framework of interconnected zero-knowledge rollups that can function across various blockchains, facilitating secure and interoperable transactions. The platform automatically converts business logic into a cryptographically verifiable format, utilizing a roll-up system to connect with data availability layers. This integration allows users to leverage specialized components designed for rollups, while also benefiting from advancements in proof-generation parallelism and scalability, all without compromising end-user verifiability.

Exponential DeFi

Seed Round in 2022
Exponential DeFi platform makes it easy to discover, assess, and invest in DeFi yield opportunities. Anyone can become a lender or market maker with DeFi. Financial freedom is within everyone's reach when individuals have the ability to grow their wealth exponentially. Its platform helps investors assess the risk of DeFi yield opportunities so they can invest with confidence. Exponential DeFi platform was founded in 2021 and is based in San Francisco, California.

Eclipse

Seed Round in 2022
Eclipse is building Ethereum's first Solana Virtual Machine Layer 2. While other L2 networks on Ethereum focus on providing Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility, Eclipse leans into performance improvements developed by the Solana Layer 1 and adds additional verification features to deploy the blockchain as a rollup. The Eclipse team includes veterans from dYdX, Uniswap, Citadel, and Airbnb. Eclipse Labs is backed by top investors including Polychain, Placeholder, and DBA.

Eclipse

Pre Seed Round in 2022
Eclipse is building Ethereum's first Solana Virtual Machine Layer 2. While other L2 networks on Ethereum focus on providing Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility, Eclipse leans into performance improvements developed by the Solana Layer 1 and adds additional verification features to deploy the blockchain as a rollup. The Eclipse team includes veterans from dYdX, Uniswap, Citadel, and Airbnb. Eclipse Labs is backed by top investors including Polychain, Placeholder, and DBA.

Skip

Seed Round in 2022
Skip is a blockchain company that provides infrastructure to help blockchains leverage Miner Extractable Value (MEV) for financial sustainability and improved user experiences. The company has developed a platform featuring a sealed-bid closed auction system, allowing traders to submit tipped transactions to validators. This system prioritizes these transactions at the top of blocks, facilitating long-term financial viability for blockchains. Additionally, it enables traders to implement more sophisticated and profitable trading strategies. Through its innovative approach, Skip aims to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of blockchain transactions.

Primitive

Series A in 2022
Primitive is a developer of an innovative software platform focused on the Ethereum decentralized finance ecosystem. The company has created Arbiter, an open-source software framework that facilitates crypto transaction simulation. Additionally, Primitive offers a crypto asset management platform that provides users with non-custodial options protocols for any Ethereum asset, allowing them to earn upfront returns. By emphasizing open-source solutions, Primitive aims to empower users in the rapidly evolving landscape of digital finance.

Jito Labs

Series A in 2022
Jito Labs is a blockchain infrastructure company focused on maximizing rewards for validators on the Solana network while mitigating the negative impacts associated with miner extractable value (MEV). The company develops an open-source validator client and a block engine designed to create efficient and profitable blocks, enhancing the trading capabilities of validators. By providing these tools, Jito Labs enables users to optimize their revenue streams and make better use of their hardware resources.

LiquiFi

Seed Round in 2022
LiquiFi is a digital crypto management platform that assists cryptocurrency companies in automating their token vesting, lockups, and cap table management. By offering a streamlined solution for token management, LiquiFi allows teams to focus on their core activities instead of the complexities associated with building smart contracts, conducting audits, and manually transferring tokens. The platform also facilitates tax compliance and reporting, thereby enhancing the efficiency of managing token equity ownership in a rapidly expanding market. Trusted by leading crypto teams, LiquiFi addresses the security and compliance challenges of token management effectively.

Scroll.io

Series A in 2022
Scroll.io provides a native zkEVM scaling solution for Ethereum. The company upholds the Ethereum network's high-security features while offering users nearly instantaneous, inexpensive transactions.

Spruce

Series A in 2022
Spruce is building a future where users control their identity and data across all digital interactions.

Nomad

Seed Round in 2022
Nomad is a novel approach to blockchain interoperability that leverages an optimistic mechanism to increase the security of cross-chain communication.

Moonwell

Seed Round in 2022
Moonwell is a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol that operates on the Moonbeam and Moonriver networks, focusing on open lending and borrowing services. The platform provides users with a digital financing facility that emphasizes security and flexibility in funding options. By eliminating monthly payments and additional fees, Moonwell aims to create a user-friendly environment for individuals seeking to engage in decentralized financial activities.

Voltz

Seed Round in 2022
Voltz Labs is a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform founded in 2021 and based in Road Town, D8. The company specializes in leveraged interest rate swaps, offering a non-custodial automated market maker that facilitates these trades. Its platform utilizes concentrated liquidity to enhance price discovery and operates a margin engine for managing underlying assets. This structure allows users to efficiently create and trade fixed and variable interest rates, thereby providing a capital-efficient mechanism within the DeFi space.

B.Protocol

Seed Round in 2021
B.Protocol is a developer of a decentralized backstop liquidity protocol aimed at enhancing the security of lending platforms. Its blockchain-based platform integrates seamlessly with existing lending services, allowing users to engage through a dedicated smart contract interface. This innovative approach offers priority in the liquidation process by providing a cushion for user accounts approaching liquidation prices. As a result, both lenders and borrowers can reduce their reliance on traditional financing methods and improve effective interest rates, thereby unlocking greater capital efficiency in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space.

Osmosis Foundation

Initial Coin Offering in 2021
Osmosis is a decentralized peer-to-peer blockchain that people can use to create liquidity and trade IBC enabled tokens. The Osmosis blockchain is made up of free, public, and open-source software. - Osmosis is a first-of-its-kind automated market maker (AMM) that marks a foundational shift in how liquidity providers can benefit from Interchain DeFi.

Tessera

Seed Round in 2021
Tessera's mission is to curate the most extraordinary collective ownership experiences produced by the greatest creators, builders, and leaders. Tessera's vision is a world where anyone can have the opportunity to collectively own and govern things they value, without reliance on central gatekeepers to execute decisions and actions on their behalf.

Sense Finance

Seed Round in 2021
Sense Finance is a decentralized finance platform that operates a fixed-income protocol on the Ethereum blockchain. The protocol enables users to manage risk through self-directed strategies, allowing them to trade fixed rates and future yields on existing yield-bearing assets. By splitting these assets into principal and yield components, Sense Finance enhances users' ability to navigate and mitigate risks associated with fluctuations in the decentralized finance markets. This innovative approach to risk management positions Sense Finance as a significant player in the evolving landscape of decentralized finance.

Lyra Finance

Seed Round in 2021
Lyra Finance operates a decentralized platform focused on trading cryptocurrency options and perpetual contracts. Built on Ethereum, Lyra Finance combines traditional options market-making principles with the advantages of the crypto space, such as scalability and composability. The protocol offers unique and programmable on-chain options and structured products, allowing users to buy and sell options that are priced using an innovative market-based, skew-adjusted pricing model. This approach enhances the accuracy of pricing in the options market, catering to the needs of traders in the evolving cryptocurrency landscape.

Axelar

Series A in 2021
Axelar is a company focused on developing interoperability software that facilitates communication between various blockchain ecosystems and applications. Founded in 2020 by Sergey Gorbunov and Georgios Vlachos, Axelar Network offers a suite of protocols, tools, and APIs aimed at overcoming the challenges of cross-chain interactions. The company's solutions leverage Byzantine consensus, cryptography, and mechanism design to enable decentralized applications to operate across different blockchains seamlessly. By providing developers with the necessary resources, Axelar empowers them to select the most suitable platforms while enhancing cross-chain composability and liquidity.

Jet Protocol

Seed Round in 2021
Jet Protocol Holdings operates a decentralized lending and borrowing platform that aims to reduce transaction costs while enhancing efficiency. The platform specializes in innovative loan products and cross-chain interest rate arbitrage, allowing users to streamline their borrowing and lending transactions. By simplifying these processes, Jet Protocol facilitates more accessible and effective financial interactions in the decentralized finance space.

Alkimiya Protocol

Venture Round in 2021
Alkimiya Protocol is a developer of an open-source, permissionless platform that focuses on creating financial instruments backed by actual hash power production. The protocol utilizes smart contracts to enable miners to sell their future production rewards for a predetermined amount. This innovation allows users to design and deploy hash power-backed financial instruments from any location, leveraging the latest web and mobile technologies to generate revenue. By facilitating a new way for miners to monetize their production, Alkimiya Protocol aims to enhance the financial landscape within the cryptocurrency sector.

Tessera

Pre Seed Round in 2021
Tessera's mission is to curate the most extraordinary collective ownership experiences produced by the greatest creators, builders, and leaders. Tessera's vision is a world where anyone can have the opportunity to collectively own and govern things they value, without reliance on central gatekeepers to execute decisions and actions on their behalf.

DELV

Seed Round in 2021
DELV is focused on advancing the safe adoption of decentralized financial systems through the development of a crypto-asset trading platform. This platform offers liquidity for yield and principal tokens, allowing users to buy and sell these assets without any minimum investment requirements. By integrating various protocols, DELV aims to facilitate the creation of a new financial system that enhances capital efficiency, enabling users to grow their savings at a fixed rate. The company's commitment to open-source infrastructure and research-backed solutions underscores its mission to support the evolving landscape of decentralized finance.

Syndicate

Seed Round in 2021
Syndicate is a decentralized asset management platform and social network designed to democratize investing. It facilitates the creation of investing syndicates, allowing users to raise and invest capital quickly and efficiently. The platform supports the formation of decentralized autonomous organizations, empowering communities to engage in collaborative investment opportunities. By streamlining the investment process, Syndicate aims to transform traditional value creation methods and enhance accessibility for a broader audience.

SIREN

Seed Round in 2020
SIREN is a distributed protocol creating a decentralized blockchain exchange for options trading on Ethereum. The company is focused on creating a high-quality, seamless experience for sophisticated users and requires no third-party settling mechanism or order matching to complete option settlement on-chain. It allows for both buyers and sellers to mint, buy, and trade in and out of options positions at any time. SIREN was founded in 2020 and is based in San Francisco, CA.

PoolTogether

Seed Round in 2020
PoolTogether Inc. operates an Ethereum-based application that combines saving money with a gamified experience. Founded in 2019 and based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, PoolTogether features a no-loss savings game where users deposit funds that earn interest through a compound protocol. At the end of each week, participants have the chance to win the collective interest accrued, while all users can withdraw their initial deposits without any loss. This innovative platform leverages smart contracts to ensure transparency and fairness, allowing users to save money without the risks associated with traditional lotteries. By utilizing blockchain technology, PoolTogether aims to make saving accessible and engaging for its users.

Horizon Finance

Seed Round in 2020
Horizon Finance is a platform dedicated to decentralized interest rate and protocol cash flow markets. It enables users to deposit their assets with either fixed or floating interest rates, providing a unique opportunity to compete for preferential payment by capping their yield. The platform offers a trading toolkit for participants in the decentralized finance ecosystem, facilitating engagement with key yield streams while rewarding users for their participation. Through its innovative approach, Horizon Finance aims to enhance user experience in managing and optimizing financial returns.

Liquity

Seed Round in 2020
Liquity is a decentralized borrowing protocol built on the Ethereum blockchain that offers interest-free loans to users. By allowing borrowers to use Ethereum as collateral, Liquity issues loans in its own USD-pegged stablecoin. The protocol operates under a minimum collateralization ratio, ensuring that loans are adequately secured. This innovative approach enables users to access capital without incurring interest costs, making it an appealing option for those looking to leverage their Ethereum holdings.
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