Despite the recent slump in the crypto market, 2022 is shaping up to be a lucrative year for decentralized autonomous organizations, the blockchain-based collectives better known as DAOs. According to the analytics website DeepDAO, DAO treasuries currently top $10.2 billion.
Contributing to this trend is Syndicate DAO, which announced today that over 50 customers, partners, and DAOs have invested $6 million in its latest round of funding, bringing the total amount invested in the platform to $28 million.
"We're humbled by the amount of support and excitement we've been receiving since the launch of our first product [Syndicate’s Web3 Investment Clubs] in late January," co-founder Ian Lee told Decrypt in an interview.
Investors in this latest funding round include venture capital firms such as Andreessen Horowitz and Carta, NFT collective Deadfellaz, social DAO Friends With Benefits (FWB), digital asset trading platform FalconX, NFT trading platform OpenSea, DeFi protocol builders Uniswap Labs, decentralized media platform Rug Radio, and play-to-earn gaming guild Yield Guild Games.
"Originally, we were only going to raise $3 million, but we had so much interest that we doubled that," said Lee.
Jordan Garbis, co-founder of BeetsDAO, and Kent Barton, who does tokenomics at ShapeShift DAO, talk to Decrypt's Dan Roberts at Camp Ethereal 2022 in Wyoming about how to start a DAO, the hurdles with growing them, how to handle tokenomics and reward structure, and how to approach bad behavior by DAO members. At the end, they also took questions from the audience.
Founded in 2021, Syndicate is a decentralized investing protocol and social network platform for quickly spinning up a DAO—an online community focused on a common goal that uses a shared treasury, smart contracts (programs that execute once criteria are met), and tokens for voting. In January, it launched its Web3 Investment Clubs product to allow groups to establish a DAO treasury using an Ethereum wallet.
Lee explained that the round was just as much about expanding Syndicate's network as it was about tapping into funds. "We'll be partnering with the industry and community in the years ahead to revolutionize investing—which will require the partnerships, capabilities, and networks to do this the right way," he said.
According to Lee, over 1100 investment clubs are currently using the protocol. Many clubs range from 5 to 100 members centered around a specific mission, like advancing more women or people of color in the crypto space, including groups like Afropolitan, a global community of the African diaspora, and We3, a community centered around women and non-binary professionals.
"The aim," Lee said, "is to empower these communities with the tools necessary to help invest and build the future."
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