10 TON Investment Firms' Track Record: Lowest Entry Cost Below $0.78, Highest Return Potentially Exceeding 14x
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10 TON Investment Firms' Track Record: Lowest Entry Cost Below $0.78, Highest Return Potentially Exceeding 14x
This article reviews 10 disclosed TON investment firms, detailing their fundraising规模, investment costs, and return on investment.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy Nancy, PANews
After years of ups and downs, TON has now entered the top ten in cryptocurrency market capitalization. With rapid growth in user base, capital inflows, and token price, it has emerged as one of the strongest-performing crypto projects in this bull market.
TON’s transformation into a "dark horse" has been driven by visionary backers. According to CoinCarp data, TON has completed seven funding rounds, though only two totaling $16 million have been publicly disclosed. Investors include Runa Capital, RTP Global, DWF Labs, Mask Network, Mexc Ventures, Animoca Brands, Mirana Ventures, and Pantera Capital. Compared to other public blockchain projects, TON has attracted more Web2-oriented institutions and relatively fewer leading crypto-native VCs. Although founded in 2018, TON received its first investment in 2021, with the most active year being 2023—when it secured three separate funding rounds.
This article by PANews reviews 10 disclosed TON investors, analyzing their funding scale, entry costs, and return on investment (ROI). These VCs invested anywhere from hundreds of millions to several hundred million dollars, with the lowest entry prices under $0.78 per token and peak returns exceeding 14x.
Runa Capital and RTP Global
Runa Capital is a technology-focused venture fund managing $270 million, primarily investing in fintech, education, and digital health. Companies backed or incubated by Runa Capital hold assets exceeding $1 billion. TON is the only blockchain company to date that has received direct funding from Runa Capital itself. RTP Global, an early-stage tech investor, was among the first to provide financial and strategic support to major European tech firms like Yandex and Delivery Hero. Its portfolio includes 183 companies, 15 of which are unicorns.
In April 2021, TON announced a $6 million seed round led by RTP Global and Runa Capital. Alexander Filatov, co-founder of TON Labs, later revealed that the funding was finalized in 2022—meaning both firms acquired tokens at prices below the $0.78 launch price in August 2021, achieving returns exceeding 9.9x.
Pantera Capital
In May 2024, Pantera Capital, a crypto venture firm managing over $5 billion in assets, announced its investment in TON—the largest single investment in the fund’s history. The firm stated, “We believe TON has the potential to bring crypto to the masses due to its deep integration within the Telegram network,” further elaborating on social media why it went overweight on TON. While Pantera did not disclose the exact amount or purchase discount, given its prior acquisition of up to $250 million worth of discounted SOL tokens from the FTX estate, its investment in TON is likely even larger.
At the end of June, emails sent by Pantera Capital to potential investors indicated that the firm is raising a new fund specifically to acquire more TON tokens, with a minimum investment of $250,000 per backer. According to previous disclosures, Pantera Fund V is expected to begin fundraising in Q1 2025, targeting $1 billion.
Kingsway Capital
Manuel Stotz, founder and CEO of Kingsway Capital, serves on the board of the TON Foundation. As reported by The Block, TON is Kingsway Capital's largest token holding to date, with purchases beginning over two years ago. Based on TON’s price movement between July 2021 and July 2022, Kingsway’s entry price ranged from a low of approximately $0.55 to a high of no more than $4.50. According to CoinGecko, TON was priced at $7.71 on July 1, implying a return ranging from 1.7x to 14x.
Ryze Labs
Founded in 2015 as Sino Global Capital, Ryze Labs has invested in Solana, LayerZero, Polygon, and Wintermute. In 2021, Ryze launched a $200 million fund with the now-bankrupt FTX as a key investor. Ian Wittkopp, head of the TON Foundation, previously served as Chief Operating Officer and Investment Lead at Sino Global Capital.
As Matthew Graham, Founder and Managing Partner of Ryze Labs, told The Block, Ryze has been a “major buyer” of TON tokens.
Animoca Brands
In November 2023, Animoca Brands announced a strategic investment in the TON ecosystem and became the largest validator on the TON blockchain, pledging to fund third-party mini-apps within the TON ecosystem while offering research and analytics platforms.
Yat Siu, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Animoca Brands, revealed in an interview with The Block that the company began purchasing TON when its price was below $1, then continued buying at $1, $1.50, and $2. Based on CoinGecko price data—and excluding early insider participation—Animoca Brands likely accumulated positions between March and December 2022, and again from May to September 2023, achieving current returns between 3.85x and 7.7x.
Mirana Ventures
In March 2024, Mirana Ventures announced a new long-term partnership with TON, including an $8 million purchase of TON tokens on the secondary market. At the time, TON was trading below $2.70, resulting in a return of over 2.8x as of July 1, 2024.
DWF Labs
In November 2022, DWF Labs committed $10 million to support the TON ecosystem, planning up to 50 seed investments over the following 12 months. During the period from November 2022 to November 2023, TON traded between $1.68 and $2.54. Based on the current price (as of July 1), this translates to returns between 3x and 4.5x. This year, TON also announced a collaboration with DWF Labs to identify project partners and investors developing games and SocialFi mini-apps on the TON blockchain.
Mask Network
In May 2023, Mask Network announced its investment in TON but did not disclose the amount. Assuming a purchase price around $2 at the time, Mask Network has achieved a return of over 3.8x. Additionally, Mask Network has included TON tokens as rewards in its staking program launched this year.
Mexc Ventures
In October 2023, Mexc Ventures announced an eight-digit investment in TON, without revealing the exact figure. If estimated at the then-market price of $2, Mexc Ventures’ return is approximately 3.8x.
It should be noted that in the crypto space, VCs typically face lock-up periods with linear vesting schedules, preventing immediate dumping of large holdings.
Additionally, it’s worth noting that TON previously raised $1.7 billion through multiple private ICOs (IC0s) at prices ranging from $0.37 to $1.33. A list submitted by the SEC to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York revealed investors such as Norma Investments Limited—linked to Russian oil billionaire Roman Abramovich—which invested $10 million; Larnabel Ventures, representing Russian tycoon Mikhail Gutseriev and his family, investing $15 million; Batios Holdings Limited linked to former Russian cabinet minister Abyzov; Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs; and Sergey Solonin, co-founder of Russian payments giant Qiwi.
However, due to SEC litigation, TON delayed its mainnet launch to April 2022 and offered investors two options: a refund of 72% of their investment, or to convert their investment into a loan to Telegram, entitling them to 110% of their original amount by April 30, 2021. Investors who chose to retain their allocation now enjoy returns ranging from nearly 5.8x to 20.8x based on current prices.
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