Elrond is a Romanian blockchain technology corporation founded in 2018 by Beniamin Mincu, Lucian Mincu, and Lucian Todea. Best known for building the Elrond Network – a sharded, proof-of-stake blockchain targeting high throughput and low transaction costs – the company also acts as a direct strategic investor in early-stage Web3 projects. In November 2022 the parent network rebranded to MultiversX, though the Romanian legal entity has continued operating under its original registration.
The company is headquartered in Romania and maintains a strong Eastern European identity, though its investment activity spans global blockchain ecosystems. Elrond raised approximately $5 million in a private sale in 2019, followed by a $3.25 million IEO on Binance Launchpad the same year. Total assets under management as a corporate investor are not publicly disclosed. The firm does not operate a named venture fund; its investment activity appears to flow through the corporate balance sheet and ecosystem treasury.
Notable investments
Public information on Elrond's specific off-chain portfolio investments is limited. The company is known to have backed projects building on or integrating with the MultiversX ecosystem, including DeFi protocols, NFT infrastructure, and payments tooling. Six portfolio companies are recorded across public databases, with three deals where Elrond led the round. Specific project names, deal sizes, and dates are not consistently disclosed in public filings or press releases. Investors researching individual portfolio companies should query Crunchbase directly for the most current deal-level data.
Team
- Beniamin Mincu – CEO and co-founder. Previously Head of Product at MetaChain Capital and NEM Foundation. Public face of the Elrond and MultiversX brand.
- Lucian Mincu – CTO and co-founder. Background in software engineering; led core protocol development.
- Lucian Todea – COO and co-founder. Entrepreneur with prior experience in mobile technology startups in Romania.
Beyond the founding trio, detailed information on investment partners or portfolio managers is not publicly available.
Recent activity
Since the November 2022 rebrand to MultiversX, the corporation has focused on expanding its ecosystem through grants, hackathons, and the xLaunchpad token launchpad rather than publicised venture rounds. In 2023 and 2024 the team announced partnerships with payments processors and gaming studios, though the financial terms of those arrangements were not disclosed. No major portfolio exits or write-offs have been announced publicly.
Elrond / MultiversX occupies an unusual position: part infrastructure company, part ecosystem fund, part corporate investor. Its investment thesis appears tightly tied to expanding MultiversX network activity rather than seeking returns across unrelated verticals. For investors and founders evaluating it as a backer, the key question is whether the deal includes genuine ecosystem support – developer tooling, co-marketing, and liquidity on xExchange – or functions primarily as a balance-sheet investment. Public track record at the portfolio level remains sparse, making independent due diligence essential.
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