European crypto firm RockawayX closes $125m fund amid renewed interest in digital assets

RockawayX, a European crypto VC firm founded in Prague, has closed a $125m fund amid renewed interest in blockchain technology. 

Following a bruising crypto winter that saw VC investment plunge from $21.2bn in 2022 to $4.1bn in 2023 globally, regulatory changes in Europe and friendly policies pursued by Donald Trump have provided respite for those interested in the asset class. 

Samantha Bohbot, partner and chief growth officer at RockawayX, tells Sifted the fund plans to invest around 50% of the capital raised into blockchain startups based in Europe. 

During the Biden administration, increasing regulatory action against the crypto industry pushed many crypto founders to consider relocating to the EU, where the rules were clearer after the bloc introduced its Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations. 

While that movement of talent has slowed, with some European founders upping sticks and moving to the US after Trump’s inauguration, Bohbot remains bullish on Europe’s crypto talent, citing its universities and the strength of its engineers. 

“Our local network is still yielding us a lot of interesting opportunities here,” she says. Some of the European crypto startups RockawayX has previously invested in include London-based crypto banking company BCB Group and decentralised finance protocol Morpho. 

Crypto funds based in Europe aren’t exactly a dime a dozen, with limited partners typically hesitant to take exposure in the volatile asset class. Recent European additions include Bpifrance’s €25m crypto venture fund and Dutch VC firm Maven11’s $107m fund — both of which were announced closing last month. 

A gap in the market

“I feel there is a gap for a real dominant firm to emerge here,” says Bohbot. RockawayX’s limited partners – the backers of VC funds — include private equity firms, family offices and high net worth individuals, along with cofounders of crypto blockchains Starkware and Solana. 

European crypto VC funds are also typically smaller than their US counterparts, where VC firms such as a16z can raise billions of dollars to invest in the industry. As Sifted has previously reported, some European crypto funds have even struggled to close. Last year, Franco-German VC firm XAnge quietly wound down its web3 fund after failing to find enough backers. 

Bohbot says they were able to raise amid the cautious LP climate as they have a proven track record of returning capital to LPs. RockawayX’s first fund was able to deliver 2.1x distributed to Paid-In, a term used to describe the total capital that a fund has returned to its investors. 

Many crypto companies opt to launch their own token on crypto exchanges, which theoretically offer an opportunity for VCs to liquidate their positions.

“A lot of crypto venture funds tout this possibility for quicker liquidity as a lot of these projects launch tokens,” she says. “I think it can be true, but you have to deliver on it. You have to manage positions and return capital to your investors.”