# Christopher Grilhault des Fontaines

> Christopher Grilhault des Fontaines is a pre-seed investor at DFNS backing FinTech and Payments. See 6 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [DFNS](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/xkey)
- Location: New York, United States
- Total investments: 6
- Last investment: Apr 2025
- Lead investor: 0%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherdesfontaines
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/christophergdf
- Website: https://www.dfns.co
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christophergdf/

Christopher Grilhault des Fontaines is a pre-seed investor at DFNS in New York focused on FinTech and Payments. Since 2010, I’ve co-founded 4 companies, raised $15M, hired +40 employees, pioneered a socially innovative, alternative venue in France (a cooperative organizing 250 free concerts per year, selling 100% organic & fair trade food, ranked 1 of 334 in South-West of France on TripAdvisor), built a social network for entrepreneurs with a communityof 30k+ users, and a networking app for professionals ranking me #182 among the Top Networking App Founders on Crunchbase in 2020. Today, I’m the Co-founder & COO of Dfns (Future40, Techstars '21), a cybersecurity company that builds custody SaaS protocol for web3 apps. Think of it as a developer tool providing secure cloud for crypto. We are on a mission to bring serenity to DeFi by eliminating new blockchain risks and making crypto transactions easier, faster, more affordable, and compliant with existing regulations.Blockchain is changing finance much like internet changed communication—forever. It's an eye-opening technology that is revolutionizing the way we trade and transfer money as worldwide transactions become cheaper, faster, more open and more reliable. We are building the future of crypto banking, brick by brick.HMU on Twitter @christophergdf Or email me chris@dfns.co

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Seed | $1.4M–$4.2M |
| Pre-Seed | $1.1M–$4.2M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| FinTech | 2 | 33% |
| Payments | 2 | 33% |
| Cryptocurrency | 2 | 33% |
| Financial Services | 2 | 33% |
| Bitcoin | 1 | 17% |

13 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pre-Seed | 3 | 50% |
| Seed | 2 | 33% |
| Funding Round | 1 | 17% |

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| France | 4 | 67% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 17% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Lyzi | Lyzi is a crypto and stablecoin payment infrastructure enabling merchants, PSPs and financial institutions to accept digital assets seamlessly across in-store and online environments. Through native integrations with leading payment terminal providers — Ingenico, Verifone, Nepting, Sylq, Yavin, Famoco, Sunmi, Landi — Lyzi connects to over 1 millionpoints of sale across Europe without requiring hardware changes or POS system modifications. 300+ cryptocurrencies accepted, 500+ compatible wallets, 10 blockchains supported. Merchants receive settlement in euros or EU-regulated stablecoins (EURC, USDC, EURCV, EURE) directly to their bank account. Full AML/KYC compliance embedded. Automated bank reconciliation. Zero volatility exposure for the merchant. Deployed with Printemps, Porsche, Lamborghini, Fitness Park, Barrière Group, JOA Casinos, SBM Monaco — across luxury retail, hospitality, quick-service and independent commerce. Regulated: ACPR payment agent (REGAFI n°26900) · EU VASP (KNF). | $1.4M | Seed | Apr 08, 2025 |  |
| Usual | Usual Labs operates as a decentralized finance(DeFi) protocol. | $7.2M |  | Apr 17, 2024 |  |
| Usual | Usual Labs operates as a decentralized finance(DeFi) protocol. | $4.2M | Seed | Apr 17, 2024 |  |
| Job Protocol | Job Protocol operates as a digital recruitment platform. Was shut down in May 2022, founders pivoted to HollyHires.ai. | $1.5M | Pre-Seed | Nov 08, 2022 |  |
| RLTY | RLTY is a collective of metaverse early adopters, contributing to this growing ecosystem by setting the right infrastructure for virtual events buliding. | $4.2M | Pre-Seed | Jun 27, 2022 |  |
| Bitstack | It all started with an idea in 2021. Initially built to democratize Bitcoin in France, Bitstack has gone from a simple product that rounds up your everyday purchases and invests the spare change in bitcoin, to a dynamic app bringing a better way to manage all things money, with better money. Our mission is to empower people to better financetheir future by participating in a more open and inclusive financial system. We are rebuilding finance from the group up by building the first crypto-native bank that leverages Bitcoin and stablecoins to revolutionize consumer banking. | $1.1M | Pre-Seed | May 11, 2022 |  |

6 of 6 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Triton Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/kraken-ventures) — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- [Bing Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bing-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Breed](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/breed) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Flowdesk](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/flowdesk) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Hypersphere Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/hypersphere-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [IOSG Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/iosg-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together

## About DFNS

VC Fund · Paris, France

Custody of digital assets requires maximal security. Don't DIY.Dfns is a safe, cloud-native developer tool that gives banks, investors and companies the freedom to enter crypto markets on a battle-designed security infrastructure. Financial institutions of all sizes—from crypto startups to Tier 1 banks—use our fully-managed custodyplatform to scale and gain exposure over crypto without ever compromising the safety of their day-to-day operations.By way of deep trendsetting cryptography, we have successfully managed to create a keyless wallet generator allowing our clients to trade, transfer and store crypto without having to worry a single second. Dfns is powered by a decentralized custody network designed to break up the inner complications of blockchains and reinstate frictionless business environments. We make sure that digital assets are safe-kept with respect to the most law-abiding market procedures.Smoothly deploy on-premise your own crypto custody infrastructure in no time, and capitalize on streamlined feature delivery and advanced security updates. Dfns saves you and your team from spending precious time on labor-intensive tasks and ensures that the middle & back office experience stays the same as always. Roll out the red carpet for your customers, today.We are building the future of crypto banking—brick by brick.

3 contacts available at DFNS.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Christopher Grilhault des Fontaines | Co-founder & COO | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/christopher-des-fontaines |
| Clarisse Hagege | CEO & Founder at Xkey | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/clarisse-hagege |
| Nore Rinnesjö-Eckerberg | Chief of Staff | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/nore-rinnesj%C3%B6-eckerberg |

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## FAQ

### What does Christopher Grilhault des Fontaines invest in?

Christopher Grilhault des Fontaines invests primarily in FinTech, Payments and Cryptocurrency startups, most often at Pre-Seed and Seed stage. Most of the 6 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in France. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is Christopher Grilhault des Fontaines's check size?

Christopher Grilhault des Fontaines typically joins rounds of $1.4M–$4.2M at Seed and $1.1M–$4.2M at Pre-Seed. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Christopher Grilhault des Fontaines participates in.

### When did Christopher Grilhault des Fontaines last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Christopher Grilhault des Fontaines closed in Apr 2025. Shizune tracks 6 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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