Andre Cronje, the legendary DeFi builder and founder of Yearn.finance, has launched a new project called Flying Tulip. The startup has raised $200 million in seed funding, securing a $1 billion valuation and achieving unicorn status.
The funding round, which ran from August 14 to mid-September 2025, attracted a wide range of institutional investors without a single lead. Participants included some of the biggest names in crypto venture capital.
📌 Seed Round Snapshot
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Funds Raised | $200M |
| Valuation | $1B (FDV) |
| Structure | SAFT |
| Public Token Sale | $800M planned |
📌 Key Investors in Flying Tulip
| Investor | Type |
|---|---|
| Brevan Howard Digital | VC / Hedge |
| CoinFund | VC |
| DWF Labs | Market Maker |
| FalconX | Trading Firm |
| Hypersphere | VC |
| Lemniscap | VC |
| Nascent | VC |
| Republic Digital | VC |
| Selini | VC |
| Sigil Fund | VC |
| Susquehanna Crypto | Trading |
| Tioga Capital | VC |
| Virtuals Protocol | Crypto Fund |
🔑 Vision and Tokenomics
Flying Tulip is designed as a universal exchange, offering spot trading, options, speculative assets, lending, and structured yield. Its FT token is fully allocated to investors (100% supply distribution).
A unique feature is the perpetual put option, which allows token holders to burn FT and reclaim their initial capital anytime. Cronje projects that with a 4% annual return, the capital pool could generate $40M in yearly yield, leveraging protocols like Aave, Ethena, and Spark.
Revenue will fund operations, token buybacks, and burns, ensuring both downside protection and long-term upside for investors.
🌐 What’s Next?
Flying Tulip’s blend of investor safety mechanisms and yield-driven growth makes it one of the most ambitious DeFi ventures in 2025. The upcoming $800M public token sale will determine how quickly the platform can scale its ecosystem.
