IOSG Ventures Founder: How Did Usual Make a Comeback Against the Odds?
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IOSG Ventures Founder: How Did Usual Make a Comeback Against the Odds?
It doesn't matter how many "no's" you receive; you only need one "yes" to trigger an avalanche effect.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Jocy
In June 2023, as the cryptocurrency market languished in a deep downturn and Bitcoin struggled to hold around 25,000, many investment firms chose to stay on the sidelines or wait and watch. It was precisely then that we met Pierre and Adli, founders of Usual. At the time, the shocking USDC depeg event had just occurred—revealing that even the safest stablecoins carried risks and vulnerabilities—while paradoxically, USDT was reporting record profits, on track this year to surpass BlackRock. This contradiction in the stablecoin market highlighted both severe fragility and immense potential.
In July, our investment team traveled specifically to Usual’s office in Paris. They had self-funded an eight-person team and booked a modest meeting room at a shared workspace for our pitch session. We spoke for about two hours, and that same week arranged a second technical interview with Manfred, Usual’s CTO. The background of founder Pierre was particularly striking—a former French parliament member and advisor to President Macron.
When Pierre laid out their vision, we were initially stunned by its depth and detail. Their intense passion and rigorous thinking were evident, signaling that we needed to invest substantial time understanding them and evaluating the investment opportunity.
Throughout due diligence, we held numerous internal and external meetings and exchanged detailed written communications, ultimately accumulating 50–70 pages of materials. As we dug deeper, we grew increasingly impressed by how seamlessly every detail fit into their broader vision. Their responses to our questions were never vague but consistently grounded in thorough research, demonstrating profound understanding of future challenges.
Yet what truly set them apart wasn’t merely technical strength or attention to detail—it was their genuine passion and conviction. Clearly, they were living and breathing Usual 7*24 (which contrasts sharply with common stereotypes about French work culture). Their enthusiasm was contagious, making us believe in their mission to disrupt Tether. It became clear these weren’t people chasing a market cycle—they aimed to fundamentally reshape the stablecoin landscape.
We decided to make one of the largest seed investments in IOSG’s history. However, even after we committed to lead the round in August, finalizing the full funding took nearly two more months. In fact, IOSG invests in fewer than 15 deals annually, leading only about five. The process of leading a round is inherently challenging—and this deal exemplified that perfectly. After confirming our lead, we provided a comprehensive list of prospective investors from both East and West, yet none gave commitments within the first month. Everyone wanted to wait and see, uncertain whether the round would close. At our lowest point, our colleague Momir even attended another investor’s investment committee meeting in person, walking them through Usual’s entire stablecoin and DeFi mechanism design, answering all their questions—ultimately securing their participation. This deal felt unprecedented in its level of non-consensus; when 20 mainstream funds in the industry said “no,” we pressed forward anyway, continuing to support the team until the round closed—thanks also to the founders’ resilience and persistence.
Ironically, even the fund that originally introduced us to Usual ultimately passed on investing. Once, a local French early-stage fund remarked that foreign investors failed to appreciate Pierre’s exceptional background—yet they themselves still walked away. Looking back on Usual’s fundraising journey, it’s regrettable that among the many VC firms they approached, only 3–5 actually conducted deep dives into the project details. Over those three months post-investment, we watched Pierre and Adli continuously refine their vision and push development forward. Their demonstrated resilience further solidified our conviction. Ultimately, we were fortunate to close the round alongside like-minded partners such as Kraken Ventures, who also invested significant time to deeply understand the nuances of Usual’s vision.
Post-investment, the team’s execution speed surprised even us. Their meticulous preparation translated into outstanding real-world performance. They hit milestones faster than even our most optimistic projections. Later, IOSG’s post-investment team stepped in, compiling an internal list of influential KOLs from both East and West. After multiple rounds of discussion and screening, we helped select a diverse group of KOLs with complementary strengths, then personally connected them with the Usual team via group introductions and recommendations. Additionally, through repeated pitches to Asia’s largest TVL DeFi community, we helped Usual successfully enter this major Asian DeFi ecosystem, achieving its first $200M in TVL during gray-box testing.
Reflecting on this journey, we hope it encourages future founders. How many “no’s” you receive doesn’t matter—you only need one “yes” to trigger an avalanche effect. Today, we’re more certain than ever that our “yes” to Usual will stand as one of our most important decisions. Sometimes, that’s all it takes—to say “yes” at the right moment, to the right team, with the right vision.
The difficult journey makes these critical milestones all the more rewarding. We’re thrilled to see Usual beginning to gain the recognition it deserves, while remaining fully aware that this is only the beginning of a long road ahead. There’s still tremendous work to be done. Keep moving forward!
Thank you to all members of the IOSG team who supported the decision to invest in Usual during the depths of the bear market. Usual’s growth has allowed our team to experience the power of growing alongside founders—each member has become an ambassador for Usual.
In most projects where IOSG leads, we proactively help drive early product development from 0 to 1, including subsequent GTM strategies. Internally, we even maintain a comprehensive post-investment service guidebook—the IOSG Guidebook—tailored to support startups throughout their growth lifecycle. Having persisted for over seven years as a long-term player in the crypto industry, we fully understand the difficulties inherent in venture investing. Yet we remain committed to walking alongside crypto entrepreneurs on their journey toward the stars and success!
We look forward to the next founder who comes to us and becomes the next Usual! You’re unUSUAL!
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