Shima Capital is a United States-based venture capital firm focused on early-stage Web3 and crypto investments. The firm was founded in 2021 by Yida Gao, who serves as managing partner. Before starting Shima, Gao worked at Struck Capital, a Los Angeles-based tech fund, where he developed his thesis on crypto-native investing. Shima Capital operates out of San Francisco and positions itself as a seed-to-Series A investor across blockchain infrastructure, DeFi, NFTs, and Web3 consumer applications.
In 2022, Shima Capital closed its debut fund at approximately $200 million – a figure widely reported at the time, though the firm has not published a formal breakdown. The fund targets founders at the earliest stages, often writing the first institutional check into a project. The firm's stated approach is to back technical teams building core infrastructure layers rather than speculative tokens, though it participates in both equity and token rounds.
Notable investments
- Aptos – Layer 1 blockchain developed by ex-Meta engineers, one of the more high-profile bets in Shima's early portfolio
- Mysten Labs (Sui) – another Move-language L1; Shima participated at an early stage
- LayerZero – cross-chain messaging protocol that reached a multi-billion dollar valuation
- Various seed-stage DeFi and infrastructure projects across EVM-compatible chains
Public information about the complete portfolio is limited. The firm has backed more than two dozen projects across multiple verticals, with a concentration in infrastructure and developer tooling. Not all deals have been publicly announced.
Team
Yida Gao is the primary public face of Shima Capital. He has been active on social media and at crypto conferences discussing the firm's thesis. Detailed bios for other team members or additional partners have not been widely published. Crunchbase lists Shima Capital with Gao as founder, but does not confirm additional senior partners as of the most recent data available.
Recent activity
Through 2024 and into 2025, Shima Capital continued to deploy from its debut fund across seed rounds in the Solana ecosystem, Layer 2 infrastructure, and emerging AI-crypto intersection projects. The firm has been active in backing projects that combine on-chain settlement with AI inference workloads – a thematic shift that reflects broader market interest. No second fund has been publicly announced as of early 2026, though firms of this size typically raise follow-on vehicles within three to four years of the initial close.
Shima Capital enters its fifth year with a portfolio still largely in its growth phase. Several of its early bets – particularly on Move-language blockchains – faced competitive headwinds as the L1 landscape consolidated around Ethereum and Solana. Whether those positions deliver meaningful returns will depend on activity cycles in 2026 and beyond. The firm's seed-first strategy leaves it well positioned if early-stage valuations compress and deal flow improves for disciplined investors.
