SMAPE Capital participates in $3.5M seed round of Stroom
SMAPE Capital is excited to announce its participation in the $3.5M seed round of Stroom, a protocol on the Bitcoin Lightning network that aims to provide a bridge between the Bitcoin Lightning Network and Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem.
About Stroom
The Bitcoin blockchain is arguably the most decentralised network presently available. While failing centralised solutions in Web3 caused huge setbacks for the sector in 2022, users are looking for safer places to generate gains on their capital. Hence, Stroom’s solution tackles a timely need in a decentralised, transparent and secure way without users needing to maintain their own Lightning nodes.
Stroom operates on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, a L2 that is commonly used for faster payments, and enables users to earn routing fees by depositing their BTC in the network. Users receive an Ethereum wrapped token, lnBTC, which they can use for additional yield opportunities in Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem.
The protocol will be governed by the Stroom DAO through the STROOM token. The Stroom DAO will collect all transaction fees and distribute it between key stakeholders of the network. In addition, it will decide e.g. on product development and enhancements, treasury management, fees distribution, liquidity management, and secure storage of BTC.
Investment thesis fit
Stroom falls into the DeFi vertical of SMAPE Capital’s investment thesis, an innovative solution building on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network.
Dr. Astrid Woollard, GP & Head of Research, about investing in Stroom: “In recent years, we noticed increased innovation happening in the Bitcoin ecosystem and its various layer 2 solutions. While the Bitcoin network has some short-comings, the ecosystem remains an attractive environment for developers and users alike due to its highly decentralised nature. We are excited to show our support of the wider ecosystem by investing into Stroom as a great solution on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network.”
“Stroom’s vast experience on BTC’s LN and their excellent development capabilities facilitate the simplified access to DeFi and thus unlocks a broad, previously untapped community to participate in DeFi.” Alexander Lenz, GP & COO adds.
SMAPE Capital invested alongside Greenfield (lead), Lemniscap, No Limit Holdings, and Cogitent Ventures amongst others.
SMAPE is a team of seasoned investors and industry thought-leaders investing in internet-native ecosystems that are built by value-driven founders, obsessively solving fundamental problems by shaping the future of doing business. What started as an investment collective of like-minded professional investors, will transform into a token VC fund/ecosystem in the coming months. If you want to learn more about us, reach out to us — welcome@smape.capital
