Lantern Capital

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Executive Summary

  • Lantern Capital is an early-stage venture fund investing in founders accelerating the communication speed between the machines and blockchains.
  • As AI systems grow more autonomous, the need for unstoppable, decentralized ledgers for value exchange, data integrity, and coordination is paramount.
  • We identify and back early-stage companies developing these foundational layers, evaluating all crypto projects through the lens of how AI will reshape their operating environment and focusing on those best positioned for this paradigm shift.
  • The fund is led by Gökhan Er, an experienced investor with a strong VC expertise and global operational expertise, and Tomasz K. Stanczak, Co-Director at the Ethereum Foundation and Founder of Nethermind, offering technical depth and ecosystem access.
  • Our key advantage lies in our exclusive partnership with Nethermind, a world-renowned blockchain R&D firm with 200+ engineers/researchers globally, providing deep technical due diligence and "Tier-1 CTO in a box" capabilities to our portfolio.
  • Lantern Capital is a generalist firm focusing on the Ethereum ecosystem and chain-agnostic solutions, employing a hybrid strategy of pre-seed/seed investments and opportunistic liquid positions.

Key Information (10mins)

(This summary provides a high-level overview. For detailed answers to specific questions, please reach out to @ergokhaner on Telegram and ask for access to “LP Materials” page on the right top.)

🎯 Our Thesis: Building for the AGI-Native Future

Lantern Capital focuses on the foundational layers enabling machines and AI to interact seamlessly and trustlessly with blockchains. We evaluate all crypto projects through the lens of how AI will reshape their operating environment, prioritizing those best positioned for this paradigm shift.
  • 💫 Core Focus: "Machine-to-ledger communication" – the essential infrastructure for an increasingly autonomous world. This extends beyond "crypto x AI" to include AI-augmented payment systems, decentralized identity, DePIN, and even the intersection of biotech and blockchains.
  • 🔮 Anticipated Shifts (Next 5-10 Years): We foresee agents becoming primary blockchain users, a massive scaling of on-chain activity driven by 24/7 machine interactions, and both open and closed-source AI relying on crypto for economic coordination and settlement.
  • ⛓️ Why Blockchains in the Age of AI? Blockchains offer precise metering for AI actions, autonomous treasury management for agents, open-source AI enablement through tokenized coordination, and neutral truth layers for model alignment and provenance.

🌟 Our Unmatched Edge: Technical Depth, Visionary Leadership & Global Reach

Our distinct advantages allow us to identify and support the most promising founders in this emerging space:
  • 🤝 Exclusive Nethermind Partnership: Our cornerstone is an exclusive partnership with Nethermind, a world-renowned blockchain R&D firm with 200+ engineers and researchers. This provides:
    • Unparalleled technical due diligence.
    • "Tier-1 CTO in a box" capabilities for our portfolio companies.
    • Exceptional deal flow and insights.
  • 👥 Exceptional Founding Team:
    • Gökhan Er (Co-Founder & GP): A seasoned VC (formerly Managing Director at IOSG Ventures) bringing deep operational expertise, and an extensive global network, particularly across Asia and the US. Gökhan is the full-time operator of the fund.
    • Tomasz K. Stanczak (Co-Founder & GP): Co-Director at the Ethereum Foundation and Founder of Nethermind. Tomasz offers unparalleled technical depth, direct access to the core Ethereum ecosystem, and profound insights into emerging trends.
  • Deep SF Ecosystem Integration via Ethereum House @ Frontier Tower: Gökhan's co-leadership of this pivotal San Francisco innovation hub provides Lantern Capital with early access to deal flow, talent, and unique cross-pollination opportunities with AI, Biotech, and Robotics.
    • Get more information on Frontier Tower over here.
  • 🌍 Strategic Positioning:
    • AI-Crypto Bridge: Based in San Francisco, we are embedded within AI labs while maintaining deep connections to the Ethereum ecosystem, allowing us to source founders at this critical intersection.
    • Global Network: Strong geographical leverage across Asia (Gökhan's 8+ years on the ground, Nethermind's branches), Europe/UK (Nethermind HQ, deep Ethereum roots), and the US (Gökhan relocating to SF and co-leading Ethereum Floor at Frontier Tower).

💼 Investment Strategy: Balanced, Focused, and DPI-Oriented

Lantern Capital employs a hybrid strategy designed for optimal returns and earlier distributions to LPs.
  • 📊 Dual Allocation (~50/50):
    • Primary Ventures (Pre-Seed/Seed): ~50% allocated to high-upside early-stage ventures, targeting a ≈US$20M FDV median. We aim to lead pre-seed rounds and co-lead/participate in seed rounds, with a 5-7 year horizon to liquidity. Lantern will make very selective investments per year with large ownership targets, significantly reducing our deployment pressure, enabling us to work with A+ teams.
    • Liquid Opportunities: ~50% allocated to opportunistic liquid positions, focusing on fundamental value in concentrated major assets. This is a long-biased approach with a 2-4 year horizon. We will make large and concentrated bets on later stage liquid companies where we see alpha hidden behind the low token prices.
  • 💡 Rationale for Liquid Portion: This allows us to capitalize on earlier token launches (often pre-PMF), participate in stake-to-invest mechanics, access OTC windows for discounted entries, and seize opportunistic market dislocations. This is fundamentals-driven, not day-trading.
  • 🎯 Ecosystem Focus: We primarily back founders within the Ethereum ecosystem or chain-agnostic teams, leveraging our significant edge, deepest expertise and network.
  • 📈 DPI Goal: We target initial distributions to LPs in 2028-2029 (3-4 years post-deployment).
  • 💰 Ticket Sizing: Positions are sized with the intent to return the fund; minimum $500k, justified by asymmetric upside or follow-on rights.

📋 Key Fund Terms

  • 🎯 Target Raise / Hard Cap: US30M target/US50M hard cap.
  • 💸 Management Fee: Years 1-5: 2.5%; Year 6: 2.0%; Year 7: 2.0%.
  • 🏆 Performance Fee (Carry): 20% up to 3x net return to LPs, then 25% thereafter, with a GP catch-up.
    • Carry Split: 50/50 between Gökhan Er and Nethermind, ensuring strong alignment from Tomasz K. Stanczak as the supermajority owner of Nethermind.
  • 🏢 Fund Structure: Cayman LP/GP with a BVI management company.
  • ⏱️ Investment Period / Fund Term: 3 years / 7 years.
  • 💳 Capital Calls: 50% at first close; remaining 50% within 12 months.
  • 💵 Minimum Commitment: US$1M (smaller strategic checks at GP discretion).
  • 🤝 GP Commitment: GPs will collectively commit 3% of the total fund size.
  • ⚖️ Key Service Providers: Legal: Ogier; Admin: NAV

🤝 Enhanced LP Engagement & Value

We view our LPs as partners and offer significant value beyond financial returns:
  • 💫 Co-Investment Rights: Strategic LPs (committing >US$3M) may receive rights to co-invest in at least 15% of our allocation through an SPV.
  • 🌟 Exclusive Access & Events:
    • Monthly analyst series calls discussing key trends and projects.
    • Invitations to exclusive dinner series at major industry conferences.
    • Opportunities for co-organized events.
 
For a comprehensive understanding and answers to further questions, please reach out to @ergokhaner on Telegram and ask for access to “LP Materials” page on the right top.