Variant

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Variant is an early-stage fund investing in web3.

We believe the next generation of the internet will transform users into owners.

We back mission-aligned founders at the earliest possible stage.

Featured Writing

Whole Crypto Catalog: Progressive Decentralization

Jesse Walden + others

Medha Kothari + others

Alana Levin + others

Nina Suthers + others

Crypto Web3 Article

02.03.23

Canto: A Layer-1 Incentive Experiment

Jesse Walden + others

Spencer Noon + others

Derek Walkush + others

Crypto DeFi Web3 Article

01.19.23

Introducing Variant Fund III

Li Jin + others

Spencer Noon + others

Jesse Walden + others

News & Updates Web3 Article

07.28.22

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Portfolio

Variant invests in the leading founders in web3:

Ceramic
Context
Foundation
Goldfinch
Magic Eden
Mirror
oncyber
Phantom
Polygon
Uniswap
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LEADERSHIP

Jesse Walden is a Co-Founder and General Partner at Variant. Jesse led the firm's investments in Uniswap, Phantom, Mirror, Flashbots, Foundation and others. Previously, Jesse was an investment partner on the first crypto fund at Andreessen Horowitz and later led a16z Crypto Startup School.
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Li is a Co-Founder and General Partner at Variant, where she leads consumer investing for the firm and supports portfolio companies in their comms, community building, and go-to-market strategy.
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Spencer Noon is Co-Founder and General Partner at Variant Fund, where he leads DeFi investing for the firm and supports portfolio companies with their strategy, community building and go-to-market efforts.
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Geoff is an Investment Research Partner at Variant, where he focuses primarily on DeFi. Prior to joining Variant, Geoff spent 15 years investing in private and public companies.
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Medha is an Investment Research Partner at Variant. On the evenings and weekends she also runs she256, a 5013c she co-founded in 2018 that aims to increase diversity in the crypto space, and an investment DAO called Komorebi, which invests seed capital into female and non-binary crypto founders.
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Mason Nystrom is an Investment Partner at Variant, where he focuses on consumer crypto. Prior to joining Variant, Mason was a Sr. Research Analyst at Messari focused on Web3 infrastructure, NFTs, social tokens, and DAO infrastructure. He also worked at ConsenSys focused on marketing strategy for ConsenSys and its portfolio companies.
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Alana is an Investment Partner focusing on infrastructure. Prior to Variant, Alana worked as a consultant at BCG.
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Derek is an Investment Research Partner at Variant, focused on DeFi. His primary research interests include on-chain data analytics and token distribution. He is also a frequent contributor to Spencer’s newsletter, OurNetwork.
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Tom is the Chief of Staff at Variant, where he supports the firm across a wide range of functional areas and strategic projects. He previously worked as a Senior Investment Associate at HarbourVest Partners, a global private markets investor, where he covered venture capital managers.
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Alli is the Director of Education and Events at Variant. In her role, she partners with founders, builders, and community members alike to provide the tools, education, and support needed to bring the ownership economy thesis to fruition. She also hosts an ongoing interview series called “Fem3 Voices,” which aims to highlight the work of women and non-binary builders in web3.
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Caleb is CFO and COO at Variant Fund. Prior to Variant, he was a Senior Manager at BKD CPAs & Advisors.
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Marc is one of Variant Fund’s strategic advisors and is currently Chief Legal Officer at Polygon. Before recently joining the Polygon team, Marc served as CLO at dYdX. Previously, Marc was a partner in the blockchain and cryptocurrency and financial services group at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP alongside Rebecca. Marc is an expert on blockchain and digital assets, and he frequently speaks and provides education about issues related to blockchain technology and cryptocurrency regulations.
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Jake Chervinsky is one of Variant Fund’s strategic advisors. Jake is currently the Head of Policy at Blockchain Association, the largest advocacy group for the crypto industry in Washington DC. Prior, he was General Counsel at Compound Labs, one of the first companies to progressively decentralize and make users of the Compound protocol owners.
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Nina advises Variant and projects in our portfolio on comms and PR strategy. Nina was previously a Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, where she helped build the crypto fund’s brand through media, events and special programs like the Crypto Startup School. Prior to her work at a16z, she was an account director at the OutCast Agency, a marketing agency specializing in comms, creative, and digital.
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Elisha is an Executive Assistant at Variant fund. She has over 12 years of experience as an Executive Assistant.
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VIEW ALL TEAM

Jesse Walden

Co-Founder & General Partner

Li Jin

Co-Founder & General Partner

Spencer Noon

Co-Founder & General Partner

Geoff Hamilton

Investment Partner

Medha Kothari

Investment Partner

Mason Nystrom

Investment Partner

Alana Levin

Investment Partner

Derek Walkush

Investment Partner

Tom Dils

Chief of Staff

Alli Pope

Director of Education and Events

Caleb Shough

CFO/COO

Marc Boiron

Strategic Advisor

Jake Chervinsky

Strategic Advisor

Nina Suthers

Chief Marketing Officer

Elisha Mauck

Executive Assistant

From the Archive

NFTs Make the Internet Ownable

Jesse Walden

NFTs Article

02.15.21

The Web3 Renaissance

Li Jin + others

Katie Parrott

Consumer Web3 Article

12.20.21

Progressive Decentralization: A Playbook for Building Crypto Applications

Jesse Walden

Infra Article

01.18.20

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PROJECTS

OurNetwork

Li’s Newsletter

Means of Creation

Creator Economy Course

Transition to Web3

she256

Komorebi Collective

Unsyndicated Newsletter

Fem3 Voices

Side Hustle Stack

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Join Variant and help us build the user-owned web.

© 2023 Variant Fund. All rights Reserved.

About Variant
Variant backs the leading founders in web3.
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