Beluga Spotlight: Aly Madhavji

About

As a Partner at Blockchain Founders Fund, Aly is deeply engaged in the intersection of blockchain technology and venture capital, focusing on empowering groundbreaking startups that drive innovation across Web3, AI, machine learning, IoT, education, and FinTech sectors. Aly’s journey has been marked by strategic investments and hands-on involvement in developing top-tier startups, alongside offering consultancy to leading organizations and governments on leveraging emerging technologies for scalable impact.

Aly’s prior experience spans significant roles in management consulting and assurance with PwC across North America, Brazil, and the Caribbean, reflecting a robust foundation in navigating complex business landscapes. Beyond the corporate realm, Aly dedicated himself to social sector advancement, evidenced by my contributions to the boards of the University of Toronto and Advantage Mississauga, and my history with esteemed organizations like PayPal, Microsoft, Bloomberg, and the Royal Canadian Air Force.

An advocate for education and youth development, Aly has authored three books, including the internationally acclaimed 'Your Guide to Succeed in University' from the 'Succeed Series', aimed at empowering the next generation. His commitment extends to delivering workshops and speeches designed to inspire students, parents, and professionals alike.

Aly’s academic credentials include an MBA from INSEAD (Singapore and France), a Schwarzman Scholarship from Tsinghua University, and a Bachelor of Commerce with Distinction from the University of Toronto, complemented by CPA, CA, CMA, and CIM designations.

Interview

1. You grew up in Canada and were working at PwC for several years before going to business school at INSEAD. How did you decide to go into crypto after INSEAD?

I’ve always been inspired by leveling the playing field and creating a better world. Since I was a young child, I worked on initiatives and fundraised to level the playing field through access to knowledge and education which is one of the great equalizers of opportunity. When I came across Bitcoin and once I fully understood that this was similarly leveling the playing field for the world as an alternative to the current system. When I was studying INSEAD, I had the opportunity to go to many great tech and consulting firms, but I had decided to move full-time to Web3 and never looked back!

2. You were not in crypto for that long and then you launched Blockchain Founders Fund (BFF). Launching a first time venture fund is very hard. How did you do that?

I had only been full-time in the space for a couple of years when we started Blockchain Founders Fund with a very different ethos. It was to roll up our sleeves with founders and solve the biggest bottlenecks founders were facing in addition to the capital. This helped to unlock growth, create value, and drive great opportunities for investments.

3. In a small amount of time, BFF has become one of the most active venture funds in the crypto industry. Was that always the plan? What type of deals do you focus on? Any geographical preference?

Our motto is to “be the bar," we think it’s important to always strive for the highest standard and continuously improve. We form our own independent opinions on founders and startups that help to drive our decision making, which leads us to often be the first backers of many great companies in the space. We have numerous sub-theses that are fluid where we see major problems in the Web3 space that need to be solved and we're always on the lookout for exceptional teams that we believe can help solve these major problems. We’re also geographically agnostic investing all around the globe, with the majority of our deals coming from North America, Asia and MENA.

4. While BFF may be smaller than other venture funds, you seem to try and offer a lot more value to your portfolio companies. Can you explain all the services you provide and how that's different from most venture funds?

A lot of venture funds purely invest capital and then leave their portfolio to their own faith. We believe in helping our founders to solve the most pressing problems together as part of our venture program. This includes hands-on support around strategic topics, finance, GTM and scaling, along with resources, preferred partnerships with leading startup tools & services, guides, templates, and the experts to help founders achieve their vision. This is definitely the most rewarding when founders share their stories on how we helped to transform their businesses to help make it a success.

5. You mostly invest in early stage startups. What is your average size check and do you normally take board seats?

We typically start with a check of $200k USD but once we're under the hood working with the company and founders, we look to write larger follow-on checks of up to $5m. We typically first invest in pre-seed or seed stage and we like backing founders early. Initially on many companies before their first priced round there isn't a formalized board and we don't require board seats. Our philosophy is we're with the founder to solve the biggest bottlenecks and naturally our founders will come to us first even without a formal board seat.

6. Where do you and most of your employees live these days and are you always traveling?

We’re spread out across North America and Asia, so I try to travel between to keep in contact with both the team and our portfolio. Leading a fund, I think its crucial to be on the ground in all relevant markets.

7. Any particular segment of crypto you're most excited about?

The intersection of web3 and real-world use cases excites me because it'll be the catalyst to the next 100 million users into the space. There's plenty of areas that I believe will transform the world as we know it by bridging emerging technologies to unlock growth such as Blockchain with AI and IOT. That’s where I see the biggest impact happening.

8. What advice do you have for any crypto startups trying to raise venture capital?

Focus on building a solid foundation first—your product, your team, and your community. Too many startups try to raise money before they’ve proven value. Show traction, show growth, and most importantly, show that you can execute. If it's early, make sure to articulate your go-to-market effectively and the more clarity on your plan, the easier it is for an investor to take the leap.

9. What advice do you have for any first time venture capitalists trying to raise a venture fund in crypto?

Build your network and credibility first. Raising a fund is about trust, so potential LPs need to believe in your vision and your ability to find and support the right startups. You can build a track record through angel investing and building your deal flow channels to decrease risk for potential LP's. Be patient, because relationships take time to cultivate.

10. What are some of your biggest wins that BFF invested in and what are some of the biggest misses for deals that you passed on?

Some of our biggest wins include companies that have and will fundamentally reshape industries—like Altered State Machine which was acquired by Futureverse, Arf which was acquired by Huma Finance, VeChain, Berachain, Biconomy, Breshna in gaming and LunarCrush in data analytics. As for misses, I passed on some early and pre-launch projects that have since exploded in popularity including Binance (BNB), Fetch.ai, IOTA, and Matic Network. Fortunately, I still tracked and picked up some of these fairly early after launch.

11. Most people don’t understand the economics of a venture fund. What is the expected return for a venture fund and over how many years does a fund last for?

Typically, a venture fund has a lifespan of 7-10 years, with the top quartile achieving a 3x return or more on capital. Returns take time to materialize as startups need time to scale, so patience is key. It's all about long-term value creation over quick wins.