“Backs early Web3 teams as the venture arm of Bankless, the largest Ethereum media brand, run by GPs Ben Lakoff, Ryan Sean Adams and David Hoffman, offering portfolio companies podcast and newsletter distribution alongside capital.”
Bankless Ventures states a portfolio of 50+ companies; only seven were named on the pages fetched in this session, and the split above covers only those seven. Treat it as a sample of the disclosed book, not the full fund. Chain split is limited to the four companies whose chain we could directly verify as Ethereum mainnet; Monad and Movement are their own Layer 1 and Layer 2 respectively and fall outside the current chain taxonomy, so they are excluded from the chain split.
Bankless Ventures is the investment arm of Bankless, the media brand built by Ryan Sean Adams and David Hoffman that has become one of the largest and most recognizable voices in Ethereum media. Ben Lakoff joins as a third general partner. The fund describes its own remit broadly, backing early Web3 teams, but its portfolio and its distribution model are the more useful signals for a founder deciding whether to apply.
The site names over 50 portfolio companies in total, though only seven were verifiable by name on the pages fetched in this session: Monad (a high-performance Layer 1), Ether.fi and Renzo (Ethereum restaking), Puffer (Ethereum staking infrastructure), Espresso (sequencing infrastructure), Movement (a Layer 2) and MyShell (AI x crypto). The pattern among the named companies is heavily Ethereum-aligned infrastructure, particularly restaking and staking, with a smaller AI x crypto presence.
What sets this fund apart operationally is that it runs a real contact form with a dedicated "Submit a deck" category, a genuinely monitored intake rather than a generic inbox. Its distinct value beyond capital is media distribution: portfolio companies get podcast and newsletter exposure through the Bankless platform, which is a real, differentiated asset for a founder whose product needs to be understood by a broad crypto-native audience.
Key stats:
| Partner | Role | Where to find them |
|---|---|---|
| Ben Lakoff | General Partner | bankless.ventures |
| Ryan Sean Adams | Co-founder of Bankless, General Partner | bankless.ventures |
| David Hoffman | Co-founder of Bankless, General Partner | bankless.ventures |
All three are highly public figures through the Bankless podcast and newsletter; search their names directly for current X and podcast handles.