Framework Investment Fund Overview & Investment Trends

What is special about the Framework Investment Fund? What is their investment theory and what is the investment trend in 2021 of the Framework? Find out here!

Despite having a 44% lead in funding rounds in its portfolio, Framework deals don’t really stand out in 2021.

But is that why their ROI is not high? Or is there something in their portfolio that is not trending in 2021? All are answered in the article below.

Framework investment fund overview

Framework Investment Fund (or Framework Venture) was established in 2019.

Framework is a gathering of a group of technologists, researchers and investors in Crypto, the Framework not only searches and invests in Crypto projects, but also participates in building products and services to support the Crypto projects. this network.

The investment strategy of the Framework is to take a low volume approach, usually Framework Venture buys a percentage of the network’s tokens to facilitate participation in the network’s Validation or Staking activities.

At the same time, Framework Venture is also involved in protocol management, working with the community to jointly develop tools and services to support the network.

A good example is that before Kava launched, Framework Ventures advised the project on Kava token inflation, as well as technical support for the Kava team. Or the long-term administration of Synthetix, which I will explain below.

Notable members of Framework

Framework Venture has two founders, Michael Anderson and Vance Spencer, both of whom have extensive experience in investment banking consulting, strategy management and product development.

Michael Anderson: Co-Founder of Framework Ventures

• Michael Anderson graduated from Yale University, majoring in Computer Science, and worked as an analyst at investment bank Barclays Capital.
• After leaving barclays, he went to work at Dropbox and Snapchat two technology companies in Silicon Valley, having nearly 5 years of experience in Internet product management.

Vance Spencer: Co-Founder of Framework Ventures

• Vance Spencer graduated from the University of Southern California in economics, majoring in economics. He used to work as a business management consultant at Deloitte.
• Before founding the Framework, Spencer and Anderson also founded a game company called Hashists. It was later acquired by JDS Sports (a sports company).

Overview of the Framework Portfolio

Below is an overview of the Framework’s Portfolio.

Framework’s Portfolio

Next, we will take a look at a few outstanding projects of some Sectors. All of the projects mentioned below have informative articles on idolmeta.net, if you are interested in any project, you can search for the project name to learn more!!!

Synthetic

• Synthetix: Protocol makes it possible to issue and trade Synthetic Assets through collateralization. Synthetix has 2 rounds of funding:
  • Unknown (October 2019): Framework buys 5M SNX from Synthetix Foundation Treasury, and will keep this SNX for 24 months through Staking. In the announcement, Framwork said that it also participates in the governance of Synthetix.
  • Unknown (February 2021): Paradigm, Coinbase Ventures, and IOSG also purchased SNX directly from the Treasury for a total of $12M

⇒ Comment: From the announcement when buying SNX of the Framework, we see that they really want to go with Synthetix in the long term. They not only buy for profit, but also contribute to the building of Synthetix not only through governance, but also from the portfolio itself, which we will talk about below.

Stablecoin

• Fei Protocol: Fei Protocol is a project to make Stablecoins (FEI) according to the PCV  model:
  • Series A (March 2021): a16z, Framework, Coinbase, ParaFi,…
  • Unknown (4/2021): 17,000 members of Fei Genesis Group with a raise of 639,000 ETH.

⇒ Comments: Fei Protocol is one of the first projects to use PCV for Stablecoins. In December 2021, Fei Protocol launched V2 version, as well as combined with Ondo Finance, becoming a potential “Olympus DAO” + “Tokemak”.

In addition, with the community calling for a huge number of 639,000 ETH, it shows that Fei Protocol is a project that is enthusiastically supported by the community.

Dashboard

• Zapper: As a Dapp, it helps to manage, monitor and deploy Crypto Assets on multiple Defi Protocols in one transaction, saving you time. Zapper has 2 rounds of funding:
  • Seed (August 2020): Framework, the LAO, CoinGecko,…
  • Series A (May 2021): Framework leads, Mark Cuban,…

⇒ Comment: Zapper is the first prize winner of Kyber DeFi Hackathon held in November 2019. Although it has not issued tokens and has no revenue, the Framework also accompanied Zapper in two rounds of funding, even leading the next round.

Asset Management

• dHEDGE: A decentralized asset management protocol that allows anyone to create their own hedge fund or invest in funds managed by others in a completely non-custodial way. using Synthetics Assets on Synthetix. dHEDGE has 2 rounds of funding:
  • Unknown (November 2020): Framework and other investors pour money into managers on dHEDGE.
  • Unknown (October 2021): Synthetix leads, along with other investors.

⇒ Comments: dHEDGE is built on top of Synthetix. Although this Deal Framework does not invest directly, but uses money to use dHEDGE’s products. This shows that they also support the project in the Synthetix ecosystem.

Liquidity

• Tokemak: The project aggregates liquidity and dispatches projects that need liquidity. Framework led the Seed round in April 2021, along with other investors such as Coinbase, Delphi Digital, Consensys,…

⇒ Comment: Tokemak is a breakthrough project in using liquidity. Previously, projects had to have Incentives for users to get liquidity, but not sustainable. But with Tokemak, projects can enjoy healthier liquidity without fear of their tokens being dumped.

Gaming

• Fancy Birds: An 8-bit, bird-themed game that looks like Angry Birds. Framework led the Seed round in November 2021.
• ArenaX Labs: The company that makes the game Arena AI, where players can train and battle AI-powered characters. Framework to invest in Seed round in October 2021, together with Paradigm (leading). This money is used to develop Arena AI.
• Polemos: Gaming Guild, supports newbies to play games similar to Yield Guild Game, GuildFi. March 2021 Seed Investment Framework, along with Delphi Digital and other funds.
• Illuvium: Immutable X-based RPG battle game. Framework led the Seed round in March 2021, along with Delphi Digital, Yield Guild Game,…

⇒ Comment: The investment framework is quite scattered with projects in the field of Gaming, both Game and Guild have. Talking about the Game in particular, although the Play to Earn trend has started around May 2021, only one project is Illuvium that caught the trend, the rest are located at the end of 2021.

See also: What is Play to Earn? Play games to earn great money & future trends

NFT

• AlchemyNFT: A platform for NFT, raising capital to build Autograph.io, helping users sign into NFT with Social Network ID like Twitter. Framework invested in Autograph.io in July 2021, along with Crypto.com, Okex, Huobi, Mark Cuban,…
• UpshotOne: A product of Upshot, helping users get honest answers from experts thanks to Incentives. Investment Framework Series A in May 2021.
• Szns: SZNS is a decentralized protocol for multi-NFT indexes. Framework co-led with Dragonfly Capital in Seed round in September 2021.
• Stardust: In-game NFT creation and deployment platform. Framework leads the Seed round in September 2021.

⇒ Comment: The NFT projects in the Framework’s portfolio are all NFT applications. They don’t run after the usual NFTs or NFT Marketplaces, but pretty much current features that are very useful to users, like signing on to the NFT, encouraging users to answer questions, etc.

Derivatives

• SynFuture: Decentralized derivatives trading platform on Ethereum. SynFuture has 2 rounds of funding:
  • Seed (2/2021): Dragonfly and other investors.
  • Series A (6/2021): Polychain, Framework, Bybit,…
• Tracer DAO: Decentralized derivatives trading platform on Arbitrum. Seed investment framework in June 2021.
• Futureswap: Decentralized Derivatives Trading Platform V4 currently on Arbitrum and Uniswap V3. Futureswap has 2 rounds of funding:
  • Seed (March 3, 2020): Framework with other investors.
  • Unknown (October 2021): Led by Ribbit Capital, Framework, True, and Placeholder.

⇒ Comment: Derivatives trading is not too prominent in the portfolio of Framework, when 2/3 of projects with tokens of Tracer DAO and Futureswap both have ROI of only about x10 compared to ATH and ATL prices. dYdX is currently doing too well in derivatives trading, as well as following Perpetual Protocol.

Therefore, the “representative faces” of the Framework are difficult to explode.

Risk Management

• Certora: Certora provides security analysis tools for Smart Contracts. Certora has a unique technology called Certora Prover that is capable of checking whether a Smart Contract meets a set of security rules. Seed round investment framework in May 2021, together with Stani Kulechov of Aave, Coinbase,…
• Risk Harbor: Risk Management Marketplace for DeFi projects. Framework leads with Pantera Seed round in June 2021, besides Coinbase also invests.
• Immunefi: Bug Bounty Platform, where Bug Bounty gathers for Hackers to find bugs and receive rewards. Immunefi Investment Framework in October 2021.

⇒ Comments: In 2020, Hacker has “revenue” about $120M from DeFi projects. This figure in 2021 amounts to more than $1.7B. However, this is an area where there are not too many investment funds, in part because similar projects in the insurance segment before, although successful, did not have too much profit.

However, here the Framework invests in a different perspective: They do not choose the insurance project, but rather find other ways to prevent problems right from the lines of code. Although it has not yet seen immediate profits, it also shows that the Framework does not follow the old path.

These projects are strange, but trusted by many big names in the market. Risk Harbor’s partners are Terra, Yearn, Uniswap, Compound,… or Certora’s are Coinbase, Aave, Balancer, MakerDAO,…

Community

• RabbitHole: Incentivize users to use applications on Ethereum or Polygon by rewarding them. Seed investment framework in June 2021.
• Endaoment: Community Foundation & Public Charity built on Ethereum that allows anyone to donate digital assets to any US 501(c)(3) qualified nonprofit organization Ky. Framework leads the Seed round in June 2021.
• Commonweath: The project will help investors follow governance discussions on various chains. Framework to invest in Seed round in May 2021, together with ParaFi, Dragonfly,…

⇒ Comment: Another strange array in the portfolio. These projects also have not seen any intention to issue tokens. However, the importance of the projects is undisputed.

• RabbitHole: Motivated newbies to experience new projects; New projects also reach the community easier.
• Endaoment: Make it easier for users to donate to charity, without going anywhere or doing anything complicated. In addition, donations using Blockchain also contribute to increased transparency.
• Commonwealth: Long-term investors will find it time-consuming to track the Proposal of their projects, and the Commonwealth will have it all in one place.

Therefore, these projects still contain a lot of potential. But profit in the short and medium term is yet to be seen.

DEX

• DODO: DEX was born for a long time, then integrated many features such as Launchpad, token creation,… DODO has 2 rounds of fundraising:
  • Seed (August 2020): Led by Framework, along with Bobby Ong (CoinGecko), Jason Choi (Spartan), DeFiance,…
  • Private (October 2020): Binance, Pantera, Three Arrows Capital, Coinbase,…
• Slingshot: Exchange on Polygon and Arbitrum, trading volume is higher than QuickSwap. Framework led the November 2020 Seed round, along with Coinbase,…
• Chainflip: The DEX exchange supports Cross-chain Swap, which means that brothers with assets in Ethereum can Swap to Solana or Binance Smart Chain without converting assets. Framework led the August 2021 Seed round, along with Coinbase, Delphi Digital, ParaFi,…

⇒ Comment: The framework leads the whole Seed round of the above projects. The special thing is quite similar to some of the above projects, that is, there will always be Coinbase’s presence.

In general, all projects have a certain potential, but only DODO has a good profit in the short term

Although DODO has a growth of x80 from ATH to ATL (ie x800 compared to the Seed price of the Framework), it is quite… unlucky for the Framework, because based on the Seed round, they will have a Cliff time of one year, then pay gradually over two years.

The period of strongest growth of DODO is February – May 2021, which is more than half a year from the time of grant announcement. But overall still good, as the current price of DODO is about x90 compared to the Seed price.

Lending

• Aave: One of the first Lending projects in the direction of Market Maker. Framework and Three Arrows Capital bought $3M AAVE (purchased as old token LEND) for $0.1 in July 2020.
• Maple: Allows institutions to borrow without collateral. Maple has 2 rounds of funding:
  • Seed (December 2020): Framework, Alameda,…
  • Unknown (3/2021): Led by Framework and Polychain.
• Yield Protocol: A lending platform with a fixed interest rate. Yield Protocol has 2 rounds of funding:
  • Seed (May 2020): Paradigm.
  • Series A (6/2021): Paradigm, Framework,…
• Loda: A lending platform with a fixed interest rate. Yield Protocol has 2 rounds of funding:
  • Seed (April 2020): Framework, Spartan, Mechanism,…
  • Series A (7/2021): Framework, Spartan, Mechanism,…
• Teller: An unsecured loan platform by connecting to a bank account, a wallet that interacts with DeFi, … to give a certain loan limit without collateral. Framework leads the Seed round in July 2020, along with Parafi,…
• Rari Capital: Synthetic protocol Yield Farming, which has a function to create Lending Pool similar to Aave or Compound. No time found Framework invested in Rari Capital.

⇒ Comment: There are two unsecured loan projects in the Lending portfolio, showing that the Framework is not a random investment. In terms of the current market, the most popular unsecured loan project is probably Cream Finance with Iron Bank product.

Although it has been around for a long time, Cream in particular, or the unsecured loan segment in general in DeFi, is still not very popular.

Perhaps partly because there are not many projects available for loans to ordinary users, but their Whitelist only has large projects. Or others need to connect to a bank account, or the verification method makes users feel afraid in terms of information security.

For Aave, this is one of the leading names in the current Lending array.

The AAVE price briefly hit $661 in May 2021, before BTC dropped more than 50% the next day. One point to note is that the LEND token was converted to AAVE in October 2020 at the rate of 100 LEND : 1 AAVE. Therefore, if you refer to the LEND price, it is only about $6.61 (ATH). So the actual profit of the Aave deal is about 66x compared to ATH.

Learn more about the properties and potential of the Lending array: What is Lending?

Infrastructure

• Chainlink: Oracle leading Crypto market today. Framework invested in Chainlink since 2017. They were one of the four biggest LINK holders at that time. They even have an article about Chainlink in their portfolio.
• Kosen Labs: Former Google DeepMind AI researchers team. Kosen Labs’ mission is to bring the benefits of advanced AI to the decentralized economy. November 2021 Seed round investment framework, along with a16z and other investors.
• The Graph: The Graph is a Protocol that allows Indexing and querying Data from Blockchain, it helps to quickly build decentralized applications on Ethereum and IPFS using GraphQL. The Graph has 2 rounds of funding:
  • Seed (February 2019): Multicoin,…
  • Strategic (July 2020): Framework, ParaFi, Coinbase,…
• Kava: Blockchain Layer 1 in the Cosmos ecosystem, with the main application being to allow users to borrow USDX like MakerDAO’s DAI. Framework buys 1-5% of total KAVA supply in April 2020, worth $750,000.
• Ranger Protocol: The original name was Rocket Protocol. Ranger Protocol is an intermediary Blockchain that connects other EVM-compatible chains. Framework, Pantera and SevenX lead the Seed round in May 2021.

⇒ Comment: Unlike other funds when they invest in extremely hot platforms in 2021 such as Solana, Terra, Avalanche, …, the Framework does not have any Layer 1 “cards” in 2021 in hand. This is a huge omission, because the aforementioned projects have made profits of at least 100 times since the bottom.

If other funds have an investment thesis on the Internet of Blockchain with projects Cosmos, Polkadot, the Framework also… nothing.

Up to now, the vision of the Internet of Blockchain may not be correct, but with many funds sharing the same thought, it is very likely that it will be the trend of the future.

Options

• Thales: Options project built on Synthetix platform. Thales has 2 rounds of funding:
  • Seed (May 2021): SynthetixDAO.
  • Strategic (7/2021): Led by Framework and Apollo Capital.
• Lyra: Options project built on Synthetix platform. Framework and ParaFi lead the Seed round in July 2021.
• Arrow DFM: Options project based on AMM mechanism. Seed investment framework in November 2021, together with Alameda, Delphi Digital,…
• Pods: Derivatives Protocol is built on Ethereum, allowing creation and trading of On-chain Options.

⇒ Comment: Options (or options) are an important part of traditional finance, but not many people really need options in Crypto.

Another feature is that both projects are built on Synthetix. From there, it can be seen that the Framework is putting a lot of faith in Synthetix.

Yield Farming

• Gro: Support brothers to deposit Stablecoins to make profit. Framework leads with Galaxy Digital in Seed round in March 2021.
• Yearn Finance: Andre Cronje’s famous Yield Aggregator project, started the Fair Launch movement, meaning that no one got to hold the token first, not even Andre. Therefore, I did not find the time the Framework invested in Yearn.

⇒ Comment: There isn’t too much to say about the Yield Farming segment of the Framework, because Gro doesn’t really stand out, and Yearn couldn’t find any information on how the Framework farmed in the first place or at what price.

Framework reviews & comments

Looking at the Framework’s Portfolio, you can see the following characteristics through the Framework’s portfolio:

• They lead a lot of Deals (44% of the total Portfolio).
• The projects in the Framework’s portfolio are quite “weird”, unlike most fund trends. These projects still have a certain amount of demand, but not so much that is needed right now.
• Framework does not have any outstanding projects in 2021 like Layer 1 or Gaming. Of course they still have Gaming, but none of them have any achievements, except for Illuvium.
• Framework focuses heavily on Synthetix.

Ecosystems in Framework Portfolio

Framework’s Portfolio focuses on Ethereum mainly. There is no position in Polkadot, Cosmos like I mentioned above, even Solana, one of the most powerful rebel ecosystems in 2021.

However, if we consider the “ecosystem” to be more than just Layer 1 projects, then Synthetix is something worth mentioning in this section.

Framework invested in all projects from Synthetix to the above projects such as dHEDGE, Thales, Lyra, and even led the funding round of Thales and Lyra.

Although currently all four projects do not have much prominence in 2021, the synthetic asset segment (Synthetic) is one of the areas with a lot of potential in the future.

Review Framework’s Portfolio

Performance

The top 5 projects with the best performing Tokens (price of ATH compared to ATL) are:

• Yearn Finance (YFI): 292.858%
• Synthetix (SNX): 95.100%
• Chainlink (LINK): 37.642%
• Rari Capital (RGT): 30.771%
• Illuvium (ILV): 6.515%

The Top 5 Top 5 projects with the best performing Tokens from the beginning of 2021 are:

• Rari Capital (RGT): 19.005%
• The Graph (GRT): 811%
• Aave (AAVE): 748%
• Chainlink (LINK): 468%
• Yearn Finance (YFI): 397%

Investment trends of the Framework

Looking at the image below, you will see almost no difference compared to the Framework’s total Portfolio at the beginning of the article. Specifically, in 2022 the Framework has invested in about 35 projects.

Framework’s Portfolio in 2021

The number of projects in the puzzle pieces is also about the same, so it is impossible to indicate which areas they focus on mainly. But because of that, it can be concluded that the Framework has a uniform gameplay in everything.

Since 2020, the Framework has intended to build Synthetix for the long term, because at that time there was only Synthetix. In 2021, they start building the above projects to increase the demand for Synthetix’s sUSD.

So in the coming years, it is highly likely that the Framework will invest more in other projects, or in fundraising rounds of the Synthetix ecosystem.

Summary

The above is an overview of the Portfolio and some comments on the investment trends of the Framework, if you have any other questions or comments, please comment below to discuss with idolmeta.net!