Former Paradigm Partner Casey Caruso Secures $75M for Topology

Casey Caruso, a Forbes “30 Under 30” honoree and former investment partner at Paradigm, has officially launched her new venture capital firm, Topology, with an impressive $75 million in funding.

Announcing the news on December 12 via an X post, Caruso described her vision for Topology as supporting founders who “put everything on the line to bend the arc of human progress.”

Topology: A Bold New Venture

The $75 million funding round was led by Cendana Capital and Accolade Partners, with notable contributions from influential backers, including Marc Andreessen and Chris Dixon of Andreessen Horowitz, a co-creator of GPT-4, and Bessemer Venture Partners’ managing partner, Bob Goodman. Even American celebrity and tech investor Paris Hilton joined the roster of supporters, further underscoring the firm’s star-studded backing.

Caruso, who worked at Paradigm from May 2021 to January 2023, has a deep history in crypto investments. At Paradigm, she was involved in high-profile investments, including Coinbase, Uniswap, and MakerDAO. Her eight-year investing track record also spans futuristic technologies like brain-computer interfaces, decentralized protocols, and innovative urban designs.

A Unique Journey to Venture Capital Leadership

Caruso’s journey to launching Topology is as unconventional as it is inspiring. She began writing open-source software at the age of 15 and mined cryptocurrency while still in school, using her earnings to embark on angel investing. Her career path includes roles as a crypto specialist at Bessemer Venture Partners, an engineer at Google, and a brief stint at Harvard University studying neuroengineering before leaving to focus on venture capital.

Topology, which operated in stealth mode for seven months before its official launch, is laser-focused on early-stage companies, an area that continues to dominate crypto venture funding despite an overall decline. According to Galaxy Research, crypto VC funding dropped by 17% in Q3 2023, with $2.4 billion raised across 478 deals. However, early-stage startups accounted for 85% of these investments, indicating sustained interest in nurturing foundational projects.

Caruso’s Topology is poised to champion groundbreaking founders at a time when innovation in crypto and beyond faces both challenges and opportunities.