# Nascent

Nascent is an Asset Manager based in San Francisco, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Asset Manager
- **Headquarters:** San Francisco, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** San Francisco, CA, United States
- **Founded:** 2017
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** www.nascent.xyz
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/nascentxyz

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Founded in 2020, Nascent exists to build, expand, and capture opportunity, in open markets and open technologies. Building from a base of permanent capital, we deploy assets across a range of both liquid and long-term strategies that ensure we are among the most active users of the open financial system we are helping to build. We’ve made venture investments in 50+ early-stage teams that we believe have the potential to create substantive change, expand boundaries, and find new horizons. We are consistently on the hunt for the most competitive and curious minds exploring the edges of the crypto ecosystem and leverage our hyper flexible structure to accelerate ideas into fully deployed strategies.

## Sectors

- DeFi
- Infrastructure
- L1/L2
- NFTs
- DAO/Community
- AI/ML

## People

- Dan Elitzer — Co-founder
- Rebecca — Performance and Culture
- Jack — Venture team
- Joe — Quantitative Developer
- Peter — Venture Partner
- Brock — Venture Partner

## Questions

### Who runs investment decisions at Nascent?

Investment decisions are led by co-founders Dan Elitzer and Josh Felker. Elitzer previously co-founded IDEO CoLab Ventures and helped launch YAM Finance. Felker founded Chopper Trading. Venture partners Peter (ex-Polychain Capital) and Brock (YAM Finance co-launcher) also contribute to deal sourcing and portfolio support (per firm website).

### How does Nascent source proprietary deal flow?

Nascent sources opportunities by operating as an active participant in the crypto markets it invests in. The firm runs a liquid trading book and builds internal tooling — including quantitative systems developed by its in-house team — which generates onchain intelligence and direct protocol relationships that feed the venture pipeline.

### Does Nascent participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?

Nascent's known activity centers on direct venture deals and liquid token positions. Its public portfolio page lists over 60 companies and protocols, and it also maintains liquid positions in tokens such as Morpho and Ethena (per Altss estimate). There is no public evidence of fund-of-funds commitments.

### What investment stages does Nascent typically target?

Nascent invests primarily at Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A stages (per firm website). Its portfolio includes early-stage rounds in projects like Ethena (Seed), Morpho (Seed), and Optimism (Series A). The firm aims to back founders at the earliest stages of building crypto infrastructure and primitives.

### How is Nascent related to Nascent Markets?

Nascent Markets is a dedicated unit within Nascent that focuses on microstructure, latency, and repeatable trading edge in crypto markets. It exists alongside the venture team and shares the parent organization's brand, but operates with a distinct mandate around liquid-market competition (per firm website).

## Related profiles

- [Narya](https://altss.com/profile/narya)
- [Nascent Ventures](https://altss.com/profile/nascent-ventures)

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/nascent

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