The independent investment fund led by Kraken alumni that’s focused on early-stage companies and protocols, Kraken Ventures, announced the successful closing of its first fund at $65 million. The fund currently holds positions on platforms such as Anchorage, Pstake and Blockdaemon.
Kraken Ventures Releases Fund I of $65 million
There’s been an enormous amount of money directed toward funds that provide liquidity to early-stage crypto companies and blockchain protocols. Startups can choose from many different funds if their concepts involve game finance (gamefi), P2E (play-to-earn) protocols, decentralized financing (defi), tokens that are non-fungible (NFTs), or other crypto- and blockchain-related solutions.
Binance Smart Chain launched a 200 million cryptocurrency gaming incubation program, while Animoca Brands created a Web3 fund. Forte, Griffin Gaming and Solana Ventures also initiated a fund. Kucoin Labs created a $100m metaverse funds and Paradigm announced its $2.5 billion venture fund during mid-November.
On Friday, Kraken Ventures managing partner Brandon Gath announced the launch of the $65 million “Kraken Ventures Fund I LP.” The fund will seek initial investments in early-stage companies and protocols starting at $500K and up to $2 million.
The organization said that Fund I LP will power the “next wave of crypto and fintech innovation.” Specifically, Kraken Ventures mentioned consumer crypto protocols, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, financial infrastructure, Web3, and decentralized finance (defi).
“We’re extremely pleased to have successfully closed our first fund,” Gath said in a statement. “Our long-term view on investing, and the possibility to leverage Kraken’s experience in building a truly global, scalable platform, definitely contributed to the overwhelming interest we received from investors.” The Kraken Ventures executive added:
We are now focusing on putting that money to good use and helping some of most ingenious projects and their extraordinarily talented founders to accelerate their development of companies and protocols.
Kraken Ventures also revealed that it appointed Laurens De Poorter as the fund’s head of Europe. The new Europe lead is part of Kraken Ventures’ global expansion and De Poorter says the “European crypto scene is booming.”
“With the influx of institutional money and impending regulation wave, one of the most promising areas will be the intersection of crypto and fintech,” Kraken Ventures European lead added.
Kraken Ventures raised $65 million to fund its Fund I LP which will be dedicated to the early stage of crypto companies and protocols. What did you think? Please comment below to let us know your thoughts on this topic.
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