An investment firm at the Formation Stage founded by @lmushin @sollygarber
NY
Joined November 2023
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Formation retweeted
When I hear people use the phrasing “Formation Round”
When we first met @_ConnorSweeney, it was extremely clear to us that he possessed the ingredients to build a generational company:
MIT engineer, Olympic-level swimmer, fiercely competitive, ruthless attention to detail, and breakneck speed - all combined with a premeditated vision to build something large & important in this specific category.
When he went all-in, so did we. We co-led his formation and seed rounds alongside our friends at @generalcatalyst, and are now tripling down at the A.
Congrats to @BabaHQ on an amazing Series A - it’s still just the very beginning.
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@sharp_usa is one of the most important companies in America, a platform that brings relevance to those in uniform (and beyond) who have been massively underserved by traditional mental health services. Incredible to see their growth since co-leading the pre-seed. @Ben__Curley @lmushin 🚨
Today, we’re excited to announce an $18M Series A led by Hidden Variable with participation from @a16z, @commonwealvc, Wolfson Group, @FjLabs, and the @FordFoundation.
Sharp is building the new standard for first responder job performance with confidential, one-on-one coaching from people who understand the job and the demands that come with it.
Over 115 departments across 18 states, with more than 16,000 booked coaching sessions.
To the chiefs, peer support leads, coaches, and members who helped get us here, thank you. Now we carry the mission forward.
More departments. A better way for first responders to keep getting better throughout their careers.
People sharpen people.
Formation retweeted
First responders dedicate their lives to serving our communities. @sharp_usa is about serving them.
It started with a small team of veterans talking with first responders and connecting over some of the hardest parts of the job. It transformed into one-on-one coaching for first responders that help them with everything from stress regulation, to sleep, to leading their teams.
The result is a marketplace that connects first responders with coaches from law enforcement, fire, and military backgrounds that support and train them throughout their demanding careers.
Today, we’re excited to announce an $18M Series A led by Hidden Variable with participation from @a16z, @commonwealvc, Wolfson Group, @FjLabs, and the @FordFoundation.
The funding helps us bring Sharp to the millions of first responders and tens of thousands of first responder agencies across America.
We’re grateful to the chiefs who’ve partnered with us, the members who’ve trusted us, and the coaches who’ve continued to do the work.
Axios broke the news this morning. More on our blog. Links in the comments.
Today, we’re excited to announce an $18M Series A led by Hidden Variable with participation from @a16z, @commonwealvc, Wolfson Group, @FjLabs, and the @FordFoundation.
Sharp is building the new standard for first responder job performance with confidential, one-on-one coaching from people who understand the job and the demands that come with it.
Over 115 departments across 18 states, with more than 16,000 booked coaching sessions.
To the chiefs, peer support leads, coaches, and members who helped get us here, thank you. Now we carry the mission forward.
More departments. A better way for first responders to keep getting better throughout their careers.
People sharpen people.
Formation retweeted
Today, we’re excited to announce an $18M Series A led by Hidden Variable with participation from @a16z, @commonwealvc, Wolfson Group, @FjLabs, and the @FordFoundation.
Sharp is building the new standard for first responder job performance with confidential, one-on-one coaching from people who understand the job and the demands that come with it.
Over 115 departments across 18 states, with more than 16,000 booked coaching sessions.
To the chiefs, peer support leads, coaches, and members who helped get us here, thank you. Now we carry the mission forward.
More departments. A better way for first responders to keep getting better throughout their careers.
People sharpen people.
Formation retweeted
The two of them are simply exceptional and had been meeting with me years in advance at a time when I really did not believe I would start a company.
Formation retweeted
The story is still very much in the first inning but @formation_vc and @Nebularvc’s investment in @TeamOratomic is a true case study for modern venture capital.
You can still do all the things — keep pulling the thread, follow your genuine curiosity, find a singular team.
Formation retweeted
Especially proud to call @lmushin my partner today. We practice a style of investing where relationships are often built years in advance. Consigliere type capital. That is personified through our partnership with @DolevBluvstein and @TeamOratomic .
wsj.com/cio-journal/quantum-…
Formation retweeted
I feel incredibly lucky to be part of @TeamOratomic. With the support we now have, I can't wait to build the world's first utility-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers with some of the kindest and most talented people I know.
oratomic.com/news/mission
Formation retweeted
It has been a true privilege to work alongside such extraordinary teammates over the past months. Very excited for what's ahead as we continue this great adventure to build a fault-tolerant quantum computer. We're hiring!
Oratomic has raised a Series B, bringing our total funding to $775M since our launch in March. We are on a focused mission to build a utility-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer.
Read more about our mission here: oratomic.com/news/mission
Formation retweeted
More fuel for this incredible team to work on one of the world’s most exciting missions.
Wrote this after co-leading their seed that explains their authenticity and mentality:
“Dolev and the team did not start Oratomic because quantum computing had become fashionable. In fact, many of them had spent years believing a commercially useful machine was still far away. They started the company because a series of advances - in experiment, error-correction theory, optical engineering, and AI-assisted design - changed their mind”
Excited to have tripled down here and for the amazing things they already are and will accomplish. If you’re interested in joining reach out in the link below!
Oratomic has raised a Series B, bringing our total funding to $775M since our launch in March. We are on a focused mission to build a utility-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer.
Read more about our mission here: oratomic.com/news/mission
Formation retweeted
Oratomic has raised a Series B, bringing our total funding to $775M since our launch in March. We are on a focused mission to build a utility-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer.
Read more about our mission here: oratomic.com/news/mission
Formation retweeted
Excited for the Project Eleven launch of Strongpoint with Zcash as an initial partner
Institutional infrastructure needs to evolve as cryptographic standards change. After all, math is having a lot a big days these days (!) and that will only accelerate
Project Eleven Launches Strongpoint for Post-Quantum Custody with Zcash Foundation as Initial Development Partner
Zcash Foundation joins Project Eleven to shape institutional custody infrastructure for the post-quantum and AI era as more than $1 trillion in digital assets remain at risk of attack by sufficiently powerful quantum computers.
Project Eleven, the post-quantum security company for digital assets, today introduced Strongpoint, its flagship custody platform built for navigating the transition to post-quantum cryptography. @ZcashFoundation joins Project Eleven as an initial development partner, helping shape Strongpoint’s institutional custody architecture.
Strongpoint is designed to give institutions a consistent control layer for securing and managing digital assets as networks change the cryptographic standards underneath them. Rather than rebuilding key-management, transaction approval, and audit infrastructure for each new signature scheme or network migration, institutions can maintain a common set of security controls while the underlying cryptography evolves.
“Institutional digital asset custody was built for a world where the cryptography underneath it rarely changed,” said Alex Pruden, CEO of Project Eleven. “Quantum computing is upending that model. If every network adopts a different solution, institutions could be forced to rebuild their security infrastructure again and again. Strongpoint is built around crypto-agility, so the cryptography can change without the infrastructure changing with it.”
“Institutions holding shielded ZEC need custody infrastructure that respects Zcash’s privacy model today and can adapt as cryptographic standards change,” said Alex Bornstein, Executive Director of Zcash Foundation. “Project Eleven is building Strongpoint with the crypto-agility and technical foundation needed to support those requirements over time, helping strengthen custody infrastructure for the broader ecosystem.”
Zcash Foundation Joins as an Initial Development Partner
Zcash Foundation joins as an initial development partner for Strongpoint, bringing its expertise in privacy-preserving cryptography and protocol engineering to Strongpoint’s institutional custody architecture. Zcash’s privacy-preserving design introduces sophisticated key-management and transaction requirements, making it a valuable environment for developing custody infrastructure capable of supporting evolving cryptographic standards.
The collaboration will help inform how Strongpoint handles network-specific requirements while maintaining a consistent institutional control framework across assets and cryptographic schemes.
Post-Quantum Migrations Are Taking Different Paths
The digital asset industry’s post-quantum transition is becoming a coordination challenge. Among the networks represented by the 20 largest assets in CoinGecko’s Layer 1 (L1) category by market capitalization, Project Eleven found that only 10 have published a network-specific technical proposal, roadmap or implementation path for migrating transaction or account authentication to post-quantum cryptography.
Those approaches span at least six proposed post-quantum signature schemes and vary significantly in how they address account migration, key rotation and legacy-asset recovery. Even where technical roadmaps exist, operational readiness remains uneven, leaving institutions to navigate different standards and requirements across networks.
For institutions operating across multiple networks, that fragmentation means accommodating different cryptographic standards and migration requirements without losing a consistent security model. Strongpoint is designed to provide that common operating layer while allowing the cryptography beneath it to change independently.
Early Access and Deployment
Project Eleven targets production deployment in Q4 2026 and is working with a limited group of development partners ahead of general availability. Additional development partners and supported networks will be announced. Institutions interested in early access can request more information at projecteleven.com/strongpoin….
Founded in 2024 by Alex Pruden and Conor Deegan, Project Eleven raised a $20 million Series A led by Castle Island Ventures in January 2026, bringing its total funding to $26 million. The company recently acquired Riva Labs, a specialized engineering firm with deep expertise in post-quantum signatures, wallet infrastructure and blockchain cryptography, expanding Project Eleven’s in-house research and protocol-engineering capabilities.
Methodology: Project Eleven reviewed the 20 largest assets in CoinGecko’s Layer 1 (L1) category by market capitalization on September 25, 2026. A network was counted only where an official network organization, foundation, core development team or recognized protocol-improvement process had published a network-specific technical proposal, roadmap or implementation path for migrating transaction or account authentication to post-quantum cryptography. General research programs, statements of intent and post-quantum work that did not specify such a migration path were not counted. Draft technical proposals were included and do not imply network approval or adoption.
Formation retweeted
Project Eleven Launches Strongpoint for Post-Quantum Custody with Zcash Foundation as Initial Development Partner
Zcash Foundation joins Project Eleven to shape institutional custody infrastructure for the post-quantum and AI era as more than $1 trillion in digital assets remain at risk of attack by sufficiently powerful quantum computers.
Project Eleven, the post-quantum security company for digital assets, today introduced Strongpoint, its flagship custody platform built for navigating the transition to post-quantum cryptography. @ZcashFoundation joins Project Eleven as an initial development partner, helping shape Strongpoint’s institutional custody architecture.
Strongpoint is designed to give institutions a consistent control layer for securing and managing digital assets as networks change the cryptographic standards underneath them. Rather than rebuilding key-management, transaction approval, and audit infrastructure for each new signature scheme or network migration, institutions can maintain a common set of security controls while the underlying cryptography evolves.
“Institutional digital asset custody was built for a world where the cryptography underneath it rarely changed,” said Alex Pruden, CEO of Project Eleven. “Quantum computing is upending that model. If every network adopts a different solution, institutions could be forced to rebuild their security infrastructure again and again. Strongpoint is built around crypto-agility, so the cryptography can change without the infrastructure changing with it.”
“Institutions holding shielded ZEC need custody infrastructure that respects Zcash’s privacy model today and can adapt as cryptographic standards change,” said Alex Bornstein, Executive Director of Zcash Foundation. “Project Eleven is building Strongpoint with the crypto-agility and technical foundation needed to support those requirements over time, helping strengthen custody infrastructure for the broader ecosystem.”
Zcash Foundation Joins as an Initial Development Partner
Zcash Foundation joins as an initial development partner for Strongpoint, bringing its expertise in privacy-preserving cryptography and protocol engineering to Strongpoint’s institutional custody architecture. Zcash’s privacy-preserving design introduces sophisticated key-management and transaction requirements, making it a valuable environment for developing custody infrastructure capable of supporting evolving cryptographic standards.
The collaboration will help inform how Strongpoint handles network-specific requirements while maintaining a consistent institutional control framework across assets and cryptographic schemes.
Post-Quantum Migrations Are Taking Different Paths
The digital asset industry’s post-quantum transition is becoming a coordination challenge. Among the networks represented by the 20 largest assets in CoinGecko’s Layer 1 (L1) category by market capitalization, Project Eleven found that only 10 have published a network-specific technical proposal, roadmap or implementation path for migrating transaction or account authentication to post-quantum cryptography.
Those approaches span at least six proposed post-quantum signature schemes and vary significantly in how they address account migration, key rotation and legacy-asset recovery. Even where technical roadmaps exist, operational readiness remains uneven, leaving institutions to navigate different standards and requirements across networks.
For institutions operating across multiple networks, that fragmentation means accommodating different cryptographic standards and migration requirements without losing a consistent security model. Strongpoint is designed to provide that common operating layer while allowing the cryptography beneath it to change independently.
Early Access and Deployment
Project Eleven targets production deployment in Q4 2026 and is working with a limited group of development partners ahead of general availability. Additional development partners and supported networks will be announced. Institutions interested in early access can request more information at projecteleven.com/strongpoin….
Founded in 2024 by Alex Pruden and Conor Deegan, Project Eleven raised a $20 million Series A led by Castle Island Ventures in January 2026, bringing its total funding to $26 million. The company recently acquired Riva Labs, a specialized engineering firm with deep expertise in post-quantum signatures, wallet infrastructure and blockchain cryptography, expanding Project Eleven’s in-house research and protocol-engineering capabilities.
Methodology: Project Eleven reviewed the 20 largest assets in CoinGecko’s Layer 1 (L1) category by market capitalization on September 25, 2026. A network was counted only where an official network organization, foundation, core development team or recognized protocol-improvement process had published a network-specific technical proposal, roadmap or implementation path for migrating transaction or account authentication to post-quantum cryptography. General research programs, statements of intent and post-quantum work that did not specify such a migration path were not counted. Draft technical proposals were included and do not imply network approval or adoption.
Formation retweeted
Project Eleven Acquires Riva Labs to Expand Post-Quantum Research and Engineering
Riva Labs joins Project Eleven as the company brings more specialized post-quantum talent and technology under one roof.
Project Eleven, the company building post-quantum security infrastructure for digital assets, today announced its acquisition of @riva_labs, expanding its expertise in post-quantum signatures, wallets, MPC, and account abstraction. The acquisition also brings technology and intellectual property developed through Riva's work across Ethereum and other public blockchains, adding to Project Eleven's capabilities in post-quantum cryptography and blockchain infrastructure.
Riva Labs has built a reputation for translating post-quantum cryptographic research into practical blockchain systems. Its work spans hash-based post-quantum signatures, post-quantum MPC, account abstraction, wallet infrastructure, and hardware signing, including recent demonstrations of post-quantum signing on consumer hardware.
The addition of Riva expands Project Eleven's research and engineering bench as the digital asset industry prepares for the complexity of post-quantum migration. Rather than treating signatures, wallets, key management, and protocol infrastructure as separate problems, Project Eleven is bringing together expertise across each layer required to make that transition practical.
That work is becoming more urgent as AI accelerates cryptographic research and cryptanalysis, allowing new techniques to be developed, tested, and challenged at greater speed. Riva has made AI a core part of its research and engineering process, bringing that capability into Project Eleven's work across post-quantum cryptography and crypto agility.
"Riva Labs is exactly the kind of talent we want at Project Eleven: deeply technical and focused on turning cryptographic research into systems that can actually be deployed," said @apruden08, CEO and Co-Founder of Project Eleven. "Bringing Riva into Project Eleven strengthens an already exceptional research and engineering team, adds valuable technology, and accelerates our ability to lead the transition to post-quantum security across digital assets."
"Project Eleven and Riva Labs came at this problem from different directions and reached many of the same conclusions about what the industry needs," said @matteovena, Co-Founder of Riva Labs. "Upgrading the public networks the future will run on, without compromising the properties that make them valuable in the first place, is a monumental challenge. Our focus is on giving the industry the tools to accelerate that transition, and joining Project Eleven lets us do it at a much larger scale."
The Riva team and technology will become part of Project Eleven's broader research and product efforts across post-quantum cryptography, digital asset custody, and blockchain security. The acquisition deepens Project Eleven's technical capabilities as it builds the infrastructure required for a secure post-quantum transition.
Formation retweeted
Proud to support Mathathon to help push forward mathematics research
No better place than Caltech to host. Exciting times to be working on the world’s hardest problems
We partnered with @AnthropicAI @OpenAI
to host the world's first math hackathon.
40 hours, $2M compute - solve, understand, and present an open problem.
Applications are live: mathathonchallenge.com
Formation retweeted
If you’re lucky enough to have the opportunity to work with @lmushin and @sollygarber at @formation_vc, you should take it.
Formation retweeted
Saw a version of this image last week on military personnel in startups
Added a portco of ours, Sharp Performance, where 1/2 of the company (~30 people) is former military
Sharp is building the personnel platform for public safety. Incredible team clearly and mission 🇺🇸🇺🇸
Formation retweeted
Agreed on Hall of Fame
Cursor is now #5 in my list of top venture investments in the past 15 years. Some recency bias, but given the category creation and time to liquidity, pushed Figma/Cerebras/Canva/others slightly down to make room
vchof.com/
Formation retweeted
Signed 2 term sheets on the flight home from SF this eve. Not as provocative as it sounds given both had been in motion for some time, but hey, it’s a summer of talent. @lmushin