Castle, a new startup co-founded by Stephen Cole and João Almeida, has raised $1,000,000 in pre-seed funding to build a new category-defining platform for Web3 founders. The round was backed by forward-thinking investors including Boost VC, Winklevoss Capital, Park Rangers Capital, Epoch VC, and a select group of angel backers.

With this early raise, Castle is planting a bold flag in the fast-changing crypto startup ecosystem - one defined by fragmentation, early-stage chaos, and the absence of tailored infrastructure for Web3-native builders. Castle wants to fix that.

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Building for a Web3-Native Future

At its core, Castle is building a founder-first operating system for crypto startups. Think of it as the modern-day digital launchpad - but purpose-built for the unique needs of blockchain-native teams. That means tooling for token lifecycle management, community governance, fundraising orchestration, and regulatory readiness, all within a single streamlined platform.

Unlike Web2 founders, crypto builders face added layers of complexity - tokenomics, DAO formation, cross-chain deployments, and volatile compliance landscapes. Castle is betting that solving these pain points early unlocks massive long-term scale.

And this is where early-stage founders often miscalculate. They prioritize speed to token or speed to treasury - yet neglect to build foundational infrastructure that actually compounds. Castle flips that. By standardizing messy workflows like contributor vesting, multisig ops, and legal structuring at Day 0, the startup becomes more investable, more compliant, and more resilient - all without slowing velocity.

This is the ultra value drop: Your backend setup is your startup’s cap table, governance structure, and trust layer combined. If you're building in crypto, your infrastructure isn’t a chore - it’s your moat. The best Web3 founders don’t just launch quickly - they launch correctly, with a base that doesn't break at scale. Castle is abstracting the painful parts of that equation into automation, templates, and guardrails that don’t slow you down.

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Why Now: The Web3 Builder Surge

Despite recent crypto market volatility, builder activity remains high. According to Electric Capital’s 2024 Developer Report, more than 23,000 monthly active crypto developers are contributing to open-source projects - nearly triple the number from just four years ago.

Meanwhile, Chainalysis estimates that global blockchain investment will cross $100 billion annually by 2026, driven by infrastructure plays, DeFi, and real-world asset tokenization. The market is shifting from hype cycles to serious, long-term construction - and Castle wants to be the foundational layer enabling that construction.

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An Operating System for the New Startup Stack

What sets Castle apart is its end-to-end scope. Founders can use the platform to:

• Launch tokenized entities
  
• Automate contributor rewards and vesting
  
• Integrate with major L1 and L2 blockchains
  
• Handle early legal workflows and KYC onboarding
  
• Manage treasury and community governance
  

By treating token launches as a first-class startup event - just like equity rounds in Web2 - Castle allows founders to move faster without sacrificing structure or compliance.

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Meet the Founders: Stephen Cole & João Almeida

Stephen Cole brings deep roots in the Bitcoin and crypto ecosystem, having founded multiple companies and contributed to various community governance frameworks. João Almeida is known for his work as the founding engineer at OpenSea, where he scaled infrastructure that handled billions in transaction volume.

Together, they bring the product discipline and crypto-native intuition needed to build a platform that understands both builders and protocols.

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Backed by the Best in Crypto VC

Castle’s $1 million pre-seed round includes a curated mix of backers:

• Boost VC – Known for early bets on Bitcoin infrastructure and sci-fi startups
  
• Winklevoss Capital – A major player in Web3 and blockchain venture funding
  
• Park Rangers Capital – Focused on decentralization and founder-first tooling
  
• Epoch VC – Backers of early-stage protocols and new crypto primitives
  
• Plus notable angel investors with operational experience in DeFi, DAO tooling, and open-source ecosystems
  

The capital will go toward expanding the engineering team, launching private beta with early partners, and building integrations with major chains like Ethereum, Solana, and Base.

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Web3 Tooling is the Next Frontier

While much of the early crypto VC capital flowed into layer-one chains, DeFi platforms, or NFT marketplaces, the next wave of investment is focused squarely on infrastructure and developer tooling.

According to Messari’s 2025 Crypto Thesis, over 40% of all crypto venture deals in the past year have been infrastructure-first - spanning middleware, data indexing, wallet layers, and protocol governance.

Castle fits squarely in this thesis. It’s not trying to replace tokens, wallets, or DAOs - it’s making all of them easier to create, manage, and scale. If Web3 is to evolve into a serious economic layer, the startup stack needs a serious upgrade. Castle is building it.

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What’s Next for Castle

In the coming months, Castle plans to:

• Launch an invite-only beta for early-stage crypto startups
  
• Release core modules for token issuance, contributor ops, and governance setup
  
• Form partnerships with leading crypto law firms and dev tooling platforms
  
• Begin onboarding multi-chain support and cross-chain collaboration features
  

The long-term roadmap includes community-owned templates, permissionless contributor pools, and a protocol-native treasury management layer that gives DAOs and startups real-time control.

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