Global From Day 1 (GD1), a New Zealand venture capital firm, recently announced it has launched a $5,000,000 Web3- and crypto-focused fund to support local startups. This fund will be investing in Series A pre-seed companies, as well as decentralized finance (defi), autonomous decentralized organizations (DAOs), tokens non-fungible (NFTs), Web3 and other areas.
GD1’s Web3 and Crypto Strategy
GD1 launches a $5 million Web3 venture capital fund. This is a major boost for local entrepreneurs and investors based in New Zealand. Nawaz Ahmad, a Web3 specialist and crypto expert will serve as the general partner of the new GD1 Crypto Fund 1. Vignesh, co-managing Partner at GD1, stated in a release that he was curious about the potential contributions of the incoming general partners.
One of our goals at GD1 has always been to diversify into new focus areas and continuously expand our knowledge base by onboarding individuals with diverse and interesting experiences and so we’re thrilled to have Nawaz join the GD1 team to help lead our web3/crypto strategy.
Kumar added that Nawaz’s work grants GD1 a vital platform to test the fund’s “thesis around the concept of permissionless innovation that web3 is built on.”
According to the statement, the fund’s first close is set for June and there are expectations it will be oversubscribed with early commitment from international Limited Partners. In the meantime, it was clarified in the statement that the GD1 Crypto Fund 1 and GD1 Fund 3 are separate entities.
Chance missed
Ahmed, for his part, spoke about how local startups appear to be only interested in funding from overseas sources. He stated:
“In the past, the very best NZ companies in this space have easily been able to raise funds globally and haven’t needed to rely on local investment. This is a missed opportunity for NZ-based funds and one we’d like to be the first to explore.”
Ahmed admits that several funds focused specifically on cryptocurrency, Web3 and the metaverse have sprung up over the last few years. However, unlike GD1’s fund, some of the global venture capital groups like Griffin Gaming Partners, a VC firm specializing in gaming-related investments, have launched larger funds.
According to Bitcoin.com News recently, Griffin Gaming Partners set aside $750 Million for Web3 and Blockchain projects. Electric Capital raised $1 billion earlier this year to support crypto startups and buy tokens. Dragonfly Capital shut down its fund at $650 million.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand VC’s statement revealed that GD1 will be investing in pre-seed to Series A companies across decentralized finance, decentralized autonomous organizations, non-fungible tokens, Web3, and crypto infrastructure.
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