Polychain Accuses Former Partner of Undisclosed Deal with Eclipse Labs

Crypto venture capital firm Polychain has accused its former partner Niraj Pant of violating fund policies by entering into an undisclosed private deal with portfolio firm Eclipse Labs. Sources and internal documents show that former Eclipse Labs CEO Neel Somani allocated 5% of Eclipse crypto tokens to Pant in September 2022, just days after Pant instructed Polychain to lead Eclipse's $6 million pre-seed funding round. The allocation was later reduced to 1.33%, valued at $13.30 million. Polychain said it was not aware of the deal until after Pant's departure in 2023. Pant maintains that the arrangement is legitimate, but Polychain believes the move should be disclosed under its policies to avoid conflicts of interest.