While no single entity owns the internet, it is dominated by powerful centralized forces. In fact, nearly half of all internet traffic is controlled by just six companies. This means that most digital real estate is privately owned. It also means there’s nothing stopping these companies from exploiting user data for profit.
That’s why 23-year-old venture capitalist Mads Pedersen believes it’s time to democratize the internet. How? By investing in tech founders and innovators who can bring blockchain technology out of the shadows and into the daily transactions of everyday digital life.
Learn more about Pedersen’s journey from digital enthusiast to crypto venture capitalist, his mission to deliver digital sovereignty to the masses, and how strategic Web3 investments can make this vision a reality.
Mads Pedersen’s “Aha” Moment
Mads Pedersen has been fascinated by all things digital since he was a child. In middle school, he built computers, dabbled in cybersecurity, and convinced his father to lend him money to invest in emerging tech companies like Netflix, Apple, and Amazon. However, what really captivated him was cryptocurrency and the blockchain.
“When I started diving into Ethereum,” Pedersen says, “I had my ‘aha’ moment.”
He quickly began to realize the seemingly endless possibilities that decentralized technology could offer. For example, he identified its potential for creating an entirely new blockchain-based financial system that doesn’t discriminate based on income, race, gender, or geography, allowing people to perform transactions directly with another party without needing middlemen like banks.
If applied to the digital ecosystem as a whole, you can imagine how blockchain technology can make the internet more decentralized, secure, and fair. By putting control back in the hands of users, these technologies can transform how people interact online, protect their data, and promote digital freedom.
It’s these principles that make up the core of Web3.
Digital Sovereignty Through Web3 Investments
While the current iteration of the internet (Web2) is privatized and centralized, digital innovators are pushing harder every year to evolve the digital landscape into Web3. It’s this next version of the internet that would use blockchain technology to give people control over their own data (digital sovereignty).
While the core ideas and principles of Web3 have been around for years, its actual use is still in its early stages — let alone widespread adoption. This is where Pedersen believes his skills and experience as a venture capitalist become crucial.
At Inception Capital, a Web3 venture capital firm, Pedersen invested in promising early-stage projects that are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with blockchain technology. These investments ranged from Ethereum scaling solutions to ownable and tradeable emoji stickers to distributed GPU networks that use crypto to share computing power efficiently. Thanks to his strategic investments, these entities have already generated millions of dollars in revenue.
Although he’s moved on from Inception Capital, he’s soon being made an Investment Partner at Figment Capital, a $60 million Web3 investment fund. In this role, he will continue investing in innovative founders who are expanding the use of cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies.
“My mission,” Pedersen says, “is to support the brightest minds in tech who are integrating crypto seamlessly into our everyday lives. The goal is for you to encounter digital assets so naturally that you hardly even notice them unless you’re actively working in the field.”
If innovators like Pedersen have their way, blockchain technology can become a regular part of the digital experience, sparking further innovation and giving everyone more control over their online presence.
Take the AI boom, for example. Pedersen believes that Web3 technology can play a valuable role in emerging tech that is already being integrated into everyday life.
“In the past,” he says, “crypto was very insular. People were just building products for tiny stacks. But now, we’re witnessing the exponential growth of AI technologies, and it’s clear that they should not be owned by two or three entities. We should have a way to make these more transparent.”
With Web3, users (the main data source for AI) can split ownership of these technologies by decentralizing the stack that AI is built on. “My goal,” Pedersen explains, “is to continue investing in those areas where crypto overlaps with huge verticals to ensure that these technologies remain open and beneficial for everyone.”
Protecting Web3’s Democratic Vision
In order to honor the principles of Web3, Pedersen argues that its development cannot be a siloed, profit-focused endeavor. “In the Web3 space,” he explains, “there’s often a rush to maximize profits quickly. Sometimes, when founders have a successful project or idea, they push it to market hastily to launch a token and reach a certain valuation.” Instead, Pedersen urges founders to remember why they’re building the technology in the first place: transparency, equal access, and expanding the benefits of the blockchain.
From Pedersen’s perspective, this requires communication and collaboration between investors, founders, and developers. He places a premium on effective communication because of how it helped him expand his network in the VC world, but also because it can bring unity to the often disparate and competitive worlds of venture capital and Web3.
“Starting my career young meant I had to quickly expand my network. I traveled extensively to meet founders and investors face-to-face in places like France, Portugal, London, Taiwan, Hong Kong, San Francisco, and New York. This intense travel schedule was draining but immensely fruitful. It taught me the importance of personal connections and diverse perspectives in driving professional growth but also how to rally people around a specific cause.”
These experiences have helped him not only succeed in venture capital but also communicate effectively with Web3 founders around the world about staying true to their core ethos: creating a democratic internet for everyone.
Web3 Venture Capitalism: Achieving a Democratic Internet
Achieving a democratic internet isn’t just about building profitable, decentralized tech platforms — it’s about challenging digital and financial power structures while safeguarding users from manipulation, data theft, and exploitation. At just 23 years old, Mads Pedersen is investing in the future of innovators who seek to bring about this free internet, fueling the fight to make a democratic internet a reality for all users.
