Startup Icon AngelList Embraces DeFi by Opening Site to USDC

Add AngelList to the ever-lengthening list of mainstream tech outfits going crypto. On Tuesday it started letting investors use USDC-enabled funds on its site. 

It’s a significant move. For the last decade, AngelList’s online bulletin board for angel investors and job-seekers has made it a valuable utility in the U.S. startup scene by playing matchmaker between angel investors and entrepreneurs. Users can apply for more than 130K jobs in its site, and its venture fund has deployed more than $1B alongside leading VCs.

Now by enabling limited partners (LPs) to use USDC, the dollar-pegged stablecoin that runs on the Ethereum blockchain, AngelList is acknowledging that startup founders and investors are increasingly opting to use DeFi to do business. 

Funding Mechanism

“The process is really simple,” said AngelList CEO Avlok Kohli during the keynote of the company’s AngelList Confidential conference. “In the closing flow there will just be an option, rather than ACH or wire, there’ll be USDC.” 

LPs can also use USDC to invest in AngelList Syndicates, a funding mechanism that allows investors to come together and invest in individual startups.

“Almost exactly a year ago I noted that USDC has become the default cryptocurrency for funding crypto startups,” Alex Svanevik, CEO of blockchain analytics platform Nansen, told The Defiant. “With the latest announcement, it looks like it’s on the path to become the de facto currency for funding any startup.”

Source: https://thedefiant.io/angellist-usdc-investors/