By Chisom Nwatu.
Inflection Points, a crypto-focused employment and corporate training business, has launched after it secured $12.6 million in funding.
The firm, founded by Colton Sakamoto and long-time crypto entrepreneur and investor Anthony Pompliano in an effort to help connect crypto companies looking for talent with people who wanted to enter the space, has been working in the background for the past 18 months.
So far, Inflection Points, which acquired crypto-focused recruiting agency Proof of Talent, has helped over 1,000 people obtain new jobs in the crypto industry at major firms like Coinbase, Gemini, Kraken and so on, according to Pompliano.
Pompliano, who manages a portfolio valued at over $500 million, has invested in over 100 early-stage companies, including cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and crypto lending company BlockFi, which was recently acquired by FTX.
Pompliano has also built up a substantial Twitter presence over the years, pumping up hype in the crypto space with bold predictions and efforts like a nationwide Bitcoin Pizza brand and a partnership deal with startup sneaker company Atoms on a Bitcoin-branded pair of shoes. He’s also attracted some criticism for highlighting efforts like Terra to his following.
The birth of Inflection Points, Pompliano explained, came from inquiries by founders of different platforms in the crypto space who often told him, “If you have great talent send them my way.”
“You expect that to some degree, but hearing that so many times I learned companies were really struggling to find people and meanwhile my inbox was full of people who wanted to move into the industry,” he said.
The company has been profitable since inception and raised outside funding after it hit seven-figures in revenue, according to a press release.
Pompliano noted that the fund raise was less about the money and more about getting the right investors.
“You put these folks together whether it was $10 million, $12 million or $15 million it didn’t matter as much as getting the people who can help us and these investors have been incredibly valuable,” he said.
Investors in the round include billionaire investor Peter Thiel’s VC firm Thiel Capital, Fifth Down Capital, XYZ Fund, Rose Park Advisors, Blockchange and Third Prime. Angel investors like former Palantir CFO Colin Anderson, Eight Sleep CEO Matteo Franceschetti, former Allergan CEO Brent Saunders and real estate developer Marc Roberts also participated. Andrew Spellman, Fifth Down Capital’s founder and managing partner, is joining the board of directors.
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