Tekin Salimi's Experiment in Founder-Aligned Venture: The $125M DAO Transformation

Tekin Salimi, formerly a general partner at Polychain Capital, is charting a new course in crypto investing by establishing a $125 million venture fund with an unconventional twist. Rather than following the traditional venture capital playbook, dao5—as the fund is called—plans to eventually transform into a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) where portfolio founders share in the fund’s profits. This approach reflects a broader shift in the industry as crypto-native investment models increasingly converge with traditional venture structures.

The timing of dao5’s launch arrives amid a notable exodus of veteran investors from established venture firms, with figures like Katie Haun launching independent crypto funds to explore new investment paradigms. Tekin Salimi’s venture represents one of the most ambitious experiments yet in aligning the financial incentives of founders across an entire investment portfolio.

From Polychain to Independent Investing: Tekin Salimi’s Evolution

Tekin Salimi’s transition from Polychain Capital—one of crypto’s most prominent investment firms—to launching dao5 underscores a growing trend of experienced venture leaders establishing their own platforms. With $125 million already secured from crypto-native investors and personal capital contributions from Tekin Salimi himself, the fund has demonstrated strong backing from the community.

The fund targets pre-seed and seed-stage investments ranging from $500,000 to $2 million per deal. However, the true distinction lies not in check size but in how Tekin Salimi is reimagining the relationship between venture firms and their portfolio companies.

How dao5 Reimagines Venture Economics

The structural innovation at the core of dao5 centers on founder incentives and economic alignment. Each time the fund makes an investment, portfolio founders receive token allocations representing a share of the fund’s profits. This means that as dao5 succeeds, every founder gains economic exposure to every other portfolio company’s token—creating what Tekin Salimi describes as an unprecedented opportunity for organic collaboration.

“The venture capital ideal has always been to create a community around founders,” Tekin Salimi explained, drawing parallels to how Y Combinator organizes cohorts and cultivates alumni networks. “What traditional structures struggle with is incentivizing founders to help each other. DAOs unlock the financial incentives that make collaboration natural.”

The mechanics are straightforward: as the fund grows profitable, founders become financially motivated to support their peers. This shared economic model transforms a typical portfolio into an interconnected network of mutually invested stakeholders.

The Path to Full DAO Governance

Tekin Salimi emphasizes that the tokenomics and governance model remain partly experimental. The fund does not plan to convert fully into a DAO until approximately three years after launch—or when 70% of capital has been deployed. At that point, the DAO’s tokens become valuable only if the fund has generated returns.

The fund’s advisory board includes heavyweight figures such as Do Kwon from Terra and Emin Gün Sirer from Avalanche. These advisors will assist with deal diligence and sourcing, anchoring the initiative with experienced voices from leading crypto ecosystems.

Tekin Salimi’s Investment Philosophy: Category-Defining Projects

Rather than focusing on traditional platform or infrastructure plays, Tekin Salimi is targeting what he calls “category-defining” projects at the fringes of crypto innovation. He points to OlympusDAO as an example of the kind of boundary-pushing tokenomic experiment that changed his thinking and represents the type of venture he aims to back.

“I describe this experiment often,” Tekin Salimi reflected during his announcement. “On one hand, it operates as a traditional venture fund. On the other, it’s genuinely uncharted territory in how we structure founder-aligned capital.” This duality—combining venture discipline with DAO-native experimentation—sits at the heart of dao5’s differentiation.

The Broader Shift in Crypto Investment

Tekin Salimi’s dao5 emerges as established venture boundaries blur between traditional models and crypto-native alternatives. The fund represents not just a capital vehicle but a philosophical shift: that founders’ success should be mutually reinforced through shared economic incentives, and that the future of venture capital in crypto lies in community-driven governance and alignment.

For the sector, Tekin Salimi’s initiative signals that the next wave of crypto investing may look radically different—less hierarchical, more aligned with founder economics, and centered on experiments that challenge how venture capital itself is structured.