The top 10 most influential venture capital firms in the Bitcoin space

With more than $800 million in investments going into Bitcoin and blockchain startups since 2012, venture capitalists seem to be fascinated by blockchain technology.

An estimated $380 million-plus has flowed into bitcoin startups in publicly announced funding rounds this year, with 2015 already surpassing 2014’s cumulative total.

While that's a significant amount, the figure doesn't reflect how many companies are betting on the emerging technology.

CoinDesk’s bitcoin venture capital data shows that nearly 200 venture capital firms have invested in bitcoin companies, a figure that excludes individual and angel investors who have participated in public financings and various private investments.

Among the many investment companies, it is not difficult to find some highly influential investors whose investments have had a broad and far-reaching impact on the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Below, we take a look at the 10 investment companies in the industry that have the most influence on the development of the Bitcoin and blockchain industries.

IDG Capital

Although San Mateo-based Boost VC has been one of the most active investors in the bitcoin industry since its founding in 2013, it has been a major investor in the bitcoin industry.

Boost VC has stated that it aims to invest in 100 bitcoin companies by 2017, and its investment list includes many promising startups such as Align Commerce, BlockCypher, BTCPoint, BitPagos and Reveal.

However, since the companies it invests in are in the early stages of startup, it is difficult to determine its specific investment amount.

So far, only one of its portfolio companies — blockchain smart contracts startup Mirror — has completed its Series A funding round.

Rain Cloud Ventures

AME Cloud Ventures is an early-stage venture capital fund founded by Yahoo founder Jerry Yang. The company is located in Palo Alto, USA. So far, its investment list has included BitPay, Blockstream, and Ripple Labs, three startups with strong development momentum. AME Cloud Ventures participated in Ripple Labs' Series A financing in May this year. In addition, it also invested in Blockcypher and participated in the recent financing of blockchain identity solution ShoCard.

Despite the public investment, Yang and his company remain silent on their investment strategy and philosophy regarding Bitcoin.

Lightspeed Venture Partners

Union Square Ventures (USV), driven by partner Fred Wilson, has become one of the companies keen to participate in public discussions on Bitcoin technology. However, USV is still cautious about investing in the Bitcoin industry.

To date, USV has invested in just three bitcoin and blockchain companies — bitcoin service Coinbase, distributed commerce network OpenBazaar, and open-source identity protocol OneName.

These seemingly disparate investments reflect one of the more explicit arguments by major VC firms: USV believes it is important to explore whether the explosive growth generated by the bitcoin protocol can be applied to areas beyond finance.

“We’re not interested in investing in companies like Coinbase,” Wilson told CoinDesk in January. “I think Coinbase has captured a very good opportunity, so we try to avoid investing in companies like Coinbase.”

RRE Ventures

Digital Currency Group, formerly known as Bitcoin Opportunity Corp, recently changed its name to Digital Currency Group (DCG). The venture capital firm has become the most active investment firm under the leadership of Barry Silbert, who invests either personally or through DCG. Major companies such as Coinbase, Circle and Ripple Labs are on its investment list.

BitFlyer, BitPay, BitPesa, BitGo, BitNet, BitPremier, BitX—these are just a few of the bitcoin-focused startups with “bit” in their names that Barry Silbert’s Bitcoin Opportunities has invested in.

DCG has been bullish on Bitcoin on all fronts, supporting Bitcoin companies in the United States and Latin America, Mexico, Japan and South Korea, and supporting innovation in nearly all areas of the digital currency ecosystem.

Andreessen Horowitz

Andreessen Horowitz is perhaps the most notable investment firm in the Bitcoin ecosystem. It is a private equity firm co-founded by Netscape founder Marc Andreessen and Netscape product manager Ben Horowitz.

Andreessen Horowitz participated in Ripple Lab’s financing in April 2013. Andreessen Horowitz has since funded two of the industry’s best startups, Coinbase and 21 Inc., with a total investment of approximately US$227 million. To date, Andreessen Horowitz accounts for more than a quarter of the industry’s investments.

Andreessen himself has become a high-profile defender of the technology, frequently tweeting about developments in the industry from the @pmarca account.

The firm has also participated in smaller rounds in TradeBlock and OpenBazaar, suggesting it remains keen to bet on potentially disruptive ideas.