🌋 VanEck Ventures: $30M Fund for Crypto Innovation
posted 9 Oct 2024
The VanEck Ventures fund will invest $30 million in cryptocurrency, fintech, and artificial intelligence projects. The focus will be on pre-seed and seed-stage startups, particularly those developing innovative payment systems.
VanEck, headquartered in New York, is widely known as an issuer of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), particularly those pegged to Bitcoin.
VanEck – an Investment Management Company Source: YouTube
Let’s be honest: crypto is at a crossroads. Obsession with infrastructure investments and token launches has created an imbalance, diverting attention from products that deliver real value to users,the fund’s statement reads.
VanEck is confident that blockchain and crypto will fundamentally transform the global financial system—and far beyond.
We've already launched liquid token funds, ETFs, and ETPs, but this fund marks our expansion into the early-stage venture ecosystem, where we think some of the most exciting companies in fintech are being built today,the company stated.
Related: VanEck: From John to Jan
Wyatt Lonergan and Juan Lopez, seasoned professionals from Circle Ventures, will head up the new VanEck investment fund. Circle Ventures, known for its work in crypto innovation, is a division of Circle Internet Financial, the company that manages USDC, the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization.
Lonergan and Lopez have participated in funding rounds for over 100 startups in the past.
Check this out: Jeremy Allaire from Circle - is he a scammer?!
Sources report that roughly 30% of VanEck Ventures’ capital is from internal investors, with the rest sourced from external partners.
We expect to make 25 to 35 investments with check sizes around $1 million over the next few years. The fund has already made four investments to be announced soonVanEck shared.
VanEck Ventures also threw down a challenge to companies seeking funding:
If you’re a founder crazy enough to build something great, we may be crazy enough to fund it. Let’s talk.
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