RockawayX Research
Investment Thesis
RockawayX is a Prague-founded, globally operating crypto-native investment firm built on the premise that great blockchain protocols need more than capital, they need active builders. The firm's public positioning, "We run blockchains and provide liquidity to fuel protocols," reflects a hands-on model that combines venture investing with in-house engineering, validator operations, and market-making. Since 2020 the firm has backed more than 100 early-stage blockchain projects, with particular depth in the Solana ecosystem where it was an early seed backer. RockawayX describes itself as 70+ engineers, researchers, investors, and operators, and structures its business around three integrated divisions: venture investing, infrastructure (staking and validation), and liquidity (market making and lending).
Stage Focus
RockawayX is primarily an early-stage investor, with its heaviest activity at seed. It has also historically expanded into growth-stage token and equity positions as protocols mature, and it now runs an opportunistic liquid strategies fund. Two venture vehicles are disclosed: Fund I (~$771M) and Fund II (~$162M).
Check Size
No specific check-size range is published on the site; deal sizes vary widely between early protocol seed rounds and larger infrastructure/liquidity commitments. Conservative extraction: omitted rather than guessed.
Lead Tendency
Mixed evidence. RockawayX was a seed backer of Solana and leads some rounds, but frequently co-invests alongside firms like ParaFi, Coinbase Ventures, and CMS Holdings. Marked as unknown/mixed pending clearer per-deal data.
Recent Activity
RockawayX has been expanding well beyond traditional venture investing in 2025-2026:
- December 2025: Nasdaq-listed Solmate (SLMT) signed a non-binding term sheet to acquire all equity of RockawayX in an all-stock deal, creating a combined entity with $2B+ in combined AUM. Viktor Fischer (RockawayX CEO) is set to become Executive Chairman of the combined Solmate on close (expected H1 2026).
- August 2026: RockawayX acquired crypto hedge fund Relayer Capital, rebranding it as the RockawayX Liquid Opportunities Fund and targeting $150M to invest in undervalued tokens and crypto-related equities using long/short strategies. Relayer founder Austin Barack joined as CIO of the new fund.
- February 2026: RockawayX expanded into managing crypto vaults via a separate acquisition.
Portfolio Highlights
RockawayX has invested in 100+ projects across infrastructure, DeFi, and gaming, including Solana, Uniswap, Axelar, 1inch, Wintermute, Safe (Gnosis Safe), Kamino Finance, Squads, Morpho Labs, Orca, Centrifuge, Pocket Network, and Risc Zero. Per third-party trackers, the portfolio includes roughly 5 unicorns, 2 IPOs, and 4 acquisitions to date. The firm also backs a cluster of onchain gaming studios (Azra Games, Playmint, Auto Legends, Voya).
Team
RockawayX's leadership spans 8+ partners across investing, engineering, legal, and operations:
- Viktor Fischer, Managing Partner & CEO
- Samantha Bohbot, General Partner & CGO
- Radek Horak, Chief Financial Officer
- Adam Bilko, Partner, Market Neutral
- Marek Sandrik, Partner
- Austin Barack, CIO (joined via the Relayer Capital acquisition, August 2026)
- Ryan Connor, Research Partner
- David Shang, Investment Partner
- Tomas Livora, Head of Engineering Labs
- Juraj Petro, Legal Counsel
- Rija Tariq, Marketing Director
Decision Process
With 8+ named partners across investing and operating functions, RockawayX operates as a partnership rather than a solo-GP shop.
Founder Preferences
The firm favors technical, protocol-native founding teams building core infrastructure (validators, liquidity, restaking, ZK) as well as consumer-facing onchain gaming studios. Its engineering-heavy internal team suggests a strong preference for founders who welcome hands-on technical collaboration.
Geographic Focus
Global, with physical offices in Prague, London, and Dubai and a 45-person team spread across three continents. No strict regional mandate; portfolio spans US, European, and global crypto-native teams.
Notable Context
RockawayX is currently mid-transaction: its pending all-stock acquisition by Nasdaq-listed Solmate (SLMT), expected to close H1 2026, would combine RockawayX's venture, infrastructure, and liquidity businesses with Solmate's public-market platform under an "Infrastructure Flywheel" strategy centered on Abu Dhabi. This is a material fact for any partner considering RockawayX as a syndicate partner or LP, since firm structure and branding may change post-close.