Subscribe To Our Newsletter

    Get the latest crypto news right into your email box. No spamming. We hate it too. Only pertinent news you need to know

    Latest News

    Coinbase Fixing Problem That Halted Payments From US Banks

    October 9, 2022

    Binance May Spend Over $1 Billion This Year on Deals, CZ Says

    October 9, 2022

    Crypto Real Estate Is Here – Bitcoin Mortgages Are Just The Beginning

    May 1, 2022
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn
    RareHippo – Crypto, Bitcoin, Blockchain News & Views
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn
    • Home
    • Bitcoin
    • NewsWire
      1. Latest News
      2. Top Stories
      3. Features
      4. What’s Hot
      5. Must Read
      6. Trending
      7. Spotlight
      8. Editors’ Picks
      9. View All

      Coinbase Fixing Problem That Halted Payments From US Banks

      October 9, 2022

      Binance May Spend Over $1 Billion This Year on Deals, CZ Says

      October 9, 2022

      El Salvador’s Companies Barely Bother With Bitcoin

      March 19, 2022

      New Jersey legislation aims to prevent public officials from being gifted NFTs

      March 18, 2022

      Coinbase Fixing Problem That Halted Payments From US Banks

      October 9, 2022

      Crypto Real Estate Is Here – Bitcoin Mortgages Are Just The Beginning

      May 1, 2022

      Crypto’s Preferred Currency for Political Donations Isn’t Bitcoin. It’s Dollars

      March 19, 2022

      Meta Sued by Australian Watchdog Over Scam Crypto Advertisements

      March 18, 2022

      Binance May Spend Over $1 Billion This Year on Deals, CZ Says

      October 9, 2022

      Two Senators propose crypto legislation for tax exemption on capital gains

      May 1, 2022

      Wall Street Reluctantly Embraces Crypto

      May 1, 2022

      Warren bill draws outcry over broad terms, but seems unlikely to pass

      March 20, 2022

      Crypto Real Estate Is Here – Bitcoin Mortgages Are Just The Beginning

      May 1, 2022

      Russia-Ukraine War Is Bringing Out the Good, Bad, & Ugly of Cryptocurrencies

      March 18, 2022

      The ‘world’s most advanced’ digital human wants you to buy her NFT art

      March 15, 2022

      FTX crypto exchange wins license in Dubai to open regional headquarters

      March 15, 2022

      Crypto Startup Founded by Ex-Meta Employees Raises $200 Million

      March 16, 2022

      U.K. Crime Agency Wants to Regulate Crypto Transaction Mixers

      March 15, 2022

      A Wall Street Quant Turns His Crypto Firm Into a Unicorn

      March 14, 2022

      Standard Chartered’s crypto custodian to help clients earn yield on token holdings

      March 14, 2022

      Man passing as UN affiliate convicted for crypto scheme

      March 18, 2022

      The Future of Crypto Is Boring — and Bright

      March 15, 2022

      Investors turn to crypto funds, companies as Russia-Ukraine crisis escalates

      March 15, 2022

      Binance Wins Crypto Licenses From Dubai, Bahrain

      March 15, 2022

      Why Bitcoin’s Environmental Problems Are So Hard to Fix

      March 16, 2022

      Americans Want Crypto From Their Banks

      March 15, 2022

      Why Decentralized Exchanges Are Important in the Crypto Economy

      March 10, 2022

      Binance plots M&A spree as regulators scrutinize crypto trading unit

      March 10, 2022

      Amid New Executive Order, White House Director Sheds Light On Crypto Policy

      March 16, 2022

      Bitcoin Evangelist Saylor Tells Economists Why They’re Wrong

      March 15, 2022

      Crypto Mania in Texas Risks New Costs and Strains on Shaky Grid

      March 15, 2022

      Bitcoin’s scared of commitment, Mr. Biden

      March 15, 2022

      Coinbase Fixing Problem That Halted Payments From US Banks

      October 9, 2022

      Binance May Spend Over $1 Billion This Year on Deals, CZ Says

      October 9, 2022

      Crypto Real Estate Is Here – Bitcoin Mortgages Are Just The Beginning

      May 1, 2022

      Two Senators propose crypto legislation for tax exemption on capital gains

      May 1, 2022
    • Altcoins
      • Ethereum
      • XRP-Ripple
      • Solana
      • Dogecoin
      • Cardano
      • Shiba Inu
    • Topics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Investments
      • Markets
      • NFTs
      • DeFi
      • ETFs
      • DAOs
      • Crypto Regulation
      • Metaverse
      • Blockchain & Web3
      • Blockchain Gaming
      • Crypto Exchanges
      • Crypto Mining
      • Stablecoins
      • Cybersecurity
      • Digital Currencies – CBDC
      • Crypto Book Reviews
      • Technology
      • Internet of Things
    • Opinions
    • Explainers
    • Press Releases

      Former Uber LatAm Head of Policy Leads Crypto Ride-Hailer Drife Toward Planned Global Expansion

      March 7, 2022

      European index provider for crypto assets Vinter raises $3.4m funding

      February 22, 2022

      PR – British crypto processor brings in $60 million for expansion in Europe

      January 25, 2022

      PR – CoinMENA obtains 2nd crypt0 license from European Union

      January 25, 2022

      NFT investment specialist looks to acquire Pluto Digital for £96m

      January 24, 2022
    RareHippo – Crypto, Bitcoin, Blockchain News & Views
    Home»Blockchain & Web3»Startup Upstream Raises $12.5 Million For Its ‘DAO In A Box’ Web3 Tools
    Blockchain & Web3

    Startup Upstream Raises $12.5 Million For Its ‘DAO In A Box’ Web3 Tools

    By Alex Konrad
    March 10, 2022By Forbes5 Mins ReadNo Comments
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email Tumblr VKontakte Telegram
    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email LinkedIn Tumblr Telegram

    Entrepreneurs Alex Taub and Michael Schonfeld once built software tools for the social media boom. Now they’re hoping to provide the plumbing for a new one in the Wild West of Web3.

    After launching a new venture, Upstream, upon the sale of their previous startup, SocialRank, in early 2020, Taub and Schonfeld have shifted Upstream’s focus more to groups using cryptocurrencies recently.

    Donate to RareHippo Now!

    This past November, they launched Upstream Collective, a product to help manage decentralized autonomous organizations (or DAOs). After finding early traction with users, they’ve now raised $12.5 million in Series A funding led by Boldstart Ventures to expand.

    The round, which values Upstream at $80 million after investment, included a gaggle of investors including Tiger Global, Ibex Investors, Vayner Fund, Panoramic Ventures, Alpaca VC, Human Ventures and Blumberg Capital. Crypto specialists, including Fenbushi Capital and The Medici Group, also joined in.

    Upstream calls its product a collective, but what it’s offering are tools to manage, and eventually launch, DAOs, which pool groups of people who invest some capital, often by purchasing tokens through cryptocurrency, in exchange for voting rights in decisions made by the group.

    Today, Upstream Collective allows such entities to bring over and manage their projects; in upcoming months, it plans to make launching new ones as easy as a few clicks, says Taub, the startup’s CEO.

    “The issue with DAOs is they are really hard to start. Think of websites in the 1980s,” Taub says. “We think DAOs will end up being the next LLC,” he adds, referring to limited liability companies, a type of business structure that has proven popular in recent decades.

    Upstream and its investors are banking on “DAOs in a box” proving to be increasingly in demand, even if no reprise song by The Lonely Island is currently planned. The total value of global DAOs currently stands at more than $8 billion, according to tracker DeepDAO, down from an all-time high of about $10 billion as the value of popular cryptocurrencies has dropped.

    Upstream Collective holds more than $2 million in its test user treasuries; the startup had hoped to end last year with $100,000, but exceeded that sum by four times. (Upstream takes 2% of contributions to the projects it hosts as revenue.)

    A look at managing a dao over upstream collective.
    A look at managing a DAO over Upstream Collective. UPSTREAM

    Upstream Collective resembles something of a third act for Taub and Schonfeld, although whether it’s more of a second—or a twentieth—depends on how you slice it. The two met at crypto payments company Dwolla in 2012 before setting out to launch SocialRank, which provides social media analytics and audience data, in 2014.

    That company raised from investors including Boldstart’s Eliot Durbin, who led Upstream’s newest funding round; the two put it on autopilot, however, in 2018 after API restrictions and heightened scrutiny on external tools like Cambridge Analytica’s made them “see the writing on the wall.”

    Taub and Schonfeld sold SocialRank in November 2019 for an undisclosed sum; the company had been making about $100,000 per month, says Taub, who calls himself an active user to this day.

    Experimenting with other ideas, such as a jobs site for gig economy workers, the duo settled upon Upstream, an app for professional groups and networking, in early 2020. When the pandemic sent U.S. workers home weeks later, Upstream shifted focus to virtual events, which it launched in April 2020, raising a $2.75 million seed round in May 2021.

    Taub, meanwhile, was becoming an avid collector of digital collectibles and NFTs, eventually co-hosting a Friday Upstream meetup on the subject that became Upstream’s most active community. So it was perhaps no surprise that by last fall, the startup was aligning itself more closely with communities under the loosely defined banner of Web3.

    Upstream Collective is far from the only startup looking to capitalize on interest in DAOs. One DAO creation toolmaker, Syndicate, raised $20 million from Andreessen Horowitz and a bevy of other name-brand investors in August 2021.

    But Taub and his investors are counting on the fact that, as Durbin at Boldstart puts it: “We’re not even in the first inning of the market yet.” The killer use case for a DAO that takes one truly mainstream has yet to be built, they concede. (The highly publicized ConstitutionDAO, which attempted to buy a copy of the U.S. Constitution last year with Taub’s participation, functioned more as crowd-funded publicity for DAOs, Taub notes.)

    Such a door-opening, widely popular DAO will emerge within the next year, Taub argues. And he’s not worried about competition. “This market is so big that even if we suck at it, which we won’t, we would still have a positive outcome as a company,” Taub says.

    That’s Upstream Collective’s biggest bet: that its entrepreneurs have finally found their rising tide to lift all boats. “We’re early in one of the seismic shifts, similar to the internet and then mobile. Ownership and Web3 is going to be as big as those things,” Taub says. “I’m betting my career on it.”

    Read full story on Forbes

    Blockchain & Web3 DAOs Investment
    Previous ArticleBitcoin Drops Below $40,000, Paring Gains From U.S. Crypto Order
    Next Article South Korea elects new Bitcoin-friendly president, who blames feminism for low birth rates

    Related Posts

    Coinbase Fixing Problem That Halted Payments From US Banks

    October 9, 20221 Min Read

    Binance May Spend Over $1 Billion This Year on Deals, CZ Says

    October 9, 20223 Mins Read

    Crypto Real Estate Is Here – Bitcoin Mortgages Are Just The Beginning

    May 1, 20224 Mins Read

    Two Senators propose crypto legislation for tax exemption on capital gains

    May 1, 20225 Mins Read

    Wall Street Reluctantly Embraces Crypto

    May 1, 20225 Mins Read

    Warren bill draws outcry over broad terms, but seems unlikely to pass

    March 20, 20225 Mins Read
    Add A Comment

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    Donate to RareHippo Now!
    Latest News

    Coinbase Fixing Problem That Halted Payments From US Banks

    October 9, 2022

    Binance May Spend Over $1 Billion This Year on Deals, CZ Says

    October 9, 2022

    Crypto Real Estate Is Here – Bitcoin Mortgages Are Just The Beginning

    May 1, 2022

    Two Senators propose crypto legislation for tax exemption on capital gains

    May 1, 2022

    Wall Street Reluctantly Embraces Crypto

    May 1, 2022
    Follow US & Win Prizes
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    Don't Miss
    NewsWire

    Crypto Is a Product ‘Embedded in High Level of Illegality’: Nigeria Central Bank

    November 17, 20213 Mins Read

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele, has claimed that a majority of…

    Craig Wright Lawsuit Over $57B in Bitcoin Could Be Headed for Mistrial

    December 2, 2021

    Alibaba Hunts For New SCMP Chief as CEO Moves to NFT Spinoff

    March 16, 2022

    Bahrain’s crypto exchange Rain Raises $110M Investment, Lead by Paradigm

    January 18, 2022

    Subscribe to Our Newsletter

    Get the latest crypto news right into your email box. No spamming. We hate it too. Only pertinent news you need to know

    Crypto news & Views
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn
    • Home
    • Privacy Policy
    • About Us
    • Donate to RareHippo
    • Get In Touch
    • NewsWire
    © 2023 RareHippo. Powered by 8 Dimensions

    The content of this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for investment or financial advice.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.