Re7 Capital bets on SocialFi with a $10 million fund targeting around 30 startups

Re7 Capital, a decentralized finance-focused investment firm managing over $600 million in digital assets, has launched a new $10 million venture fund dedicated to SocialFi — the intersection of social media and decentralized finance. The fund aims to back around 30 early-stage startups building in the category.

The launch is notable, given SocialFi’s limited traction to date. But Luc de Leyritz, general partner of SocialFi at Re7 Capital, told The Block that it is “the most important category” in crypto investing today — while acknowledging that this is a “non-consensus view.” Leyritz joined Re7 Capital last month after leaving Cherry Ventures earlier this year, where he was an investment manager.

At $10 million, the fund size seems modest for a category-focused vehicle. But Leyritz said Re7 Capital is a first-check investor and will typically write $100,000–$300,000 checks at early valuations, allowing it to support 25–30 teams with high conviction and focus, with additional capital reserved for follow-on support.

“A small fund keeps incentives on carry, not fees, forces discipline, and lets us move fast,” Leyritz said. “This venture sleeve is a high-conviction scout vehicle, not an AUM [assets under management] vanity play. If the thesis proves out, we’ll scale the next vintage.”

The fund is anchored by Re7 Capital, with other backers including Lens (a SocialFi platform founded by Aave’s Stani Kulechov), Dan Romero (Farcaster co-founder), and existing Re7 Capital limited partners, among others, according to Leyritz.

While the full $10 million fund has not yet been raised, over 60% of the target has already been committed, primarily by Re7’s existing limited partners, Leyritz said. He added that a second close is expected in June, and the hard cap may later be “modestly” increased.

Why Re7 Capital is betting on SocialFi now

“The timing is right: infrastructure, talent, and user behavior are finally aligned,” Leyritz said. “Many different approaches have emerged.”

On the infrastructure front, he highlighted recently launched Lens Chain — a Layer 2 blockchain purpose-built for SocialFi, developed by Avara, the parent company of Aave. “Lens Chain provides an AWS [Amazon Web Services]-style stack — near-zero fees, instant finality, account abstraction, embedded wallets and plug-and-play social/financial primitives — so builders can spin up standalone SocialFi apps with their own brand, economics and UX [user experience] in days, not months,” Leyritz said.

He also pointed to Farcaster, noting that its mini-apps, embedded directly into posts through “frames and deep links,” transform social interactions into interactive, lightweight experiences. It gives builders a sandbox for experimenting with users inside the core client — similar to Telegram apps, he added.

According to Leyritz, top builders are now entering the SocialFi space, with more than 200 teams actively building. User behavior is also shifting toward attention-based incentive models layered on social platforms, he said, citing the rising popularity of apps like PumpFun, Polymarket, and Kaito.

“At some point, creators notice they can monetize attention directly in new ways that can add to their content rather than subtract from it,” he said. “Once the first tier-one creator makes more on-chain than via ads or brand deals, things can snowball fast as they bring their own audiences to these platforms.”

He expects to see broader SocialFi adoption within the next 12–24 months.

The new fund will invest in SocialFi startups building across blockchain ecosystems, including projects on Lens Chain and Farcaster.

While Re7 Capital’s core expertise remains in liquid and on-chain strategies, it sees SocialFi venture fund as a timely expansion. “For the first time in five years, we see a structural opportunity in early-stage crypto venture — driven by the convergence of attention, composability and capital flows in SocialFi,” Leyritz said.

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