Taipei-based Web3 investor Infinity Ventures Crypto (IVC) has raised $70 million (roughly Rs. 525 crore) to deploy startups in Asian, South American, and North American markets in its first fund deal. The focus of the fund is to jumpstart and accelerate the growth of global GameFi, decentralised finance (DeFi), and Web3 innovations with a key focus on bridging the gap between the markets in East, particularly Southeast Asia, and the West. Notable fundraiser participants include Circle, Digital Currency Group (DCG), and Animoca Brands.
As per a press release announcing the end of the funding round, IVC was founded in August 2021 and has injected capital and expertise into 78 portfolio companies thus far. With 13 years of experience in traditional venture capital under the sister fund Headline Asia, IVC aims to leverage its global network to empower blockchain startups across the globe, including those in Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Japan, US, and others. “As venture-building partners, IVC is committed to supporting its founders fully, from tokenomics design to cryptocurrency exchange listings,” states the release.
“As a bridge between the East and West, we take a boots-on-the-ground approach by assembling teams of local experts to stoke the growth of our portfolio companies,” said IVC partner Brian Lu. “We’re proud to be off to a fast start and are excited to share our expertise with more innovators.”
IVC’s first investment was Yield Guild Games (YGG), a Philippines-headquartered play-to-earn gaming guild and decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) that invests in non-fungible tokens (NFTs). “Aligning with IVC’s vision to help the unbanked and the underbanked, these games provide an additional income stream to players during the pandemic,” said Lu.
IVC partners also include Akio Tanaka, founder of Headline Asia, Herbie Fu, former partner at 8 Decimal Capital, JT Law, co-founder of VerifyInvestor, Alex Yeh, co-founder of AuraBlock Ventures, and Richie Chaval Jiaravanon, former CEO of Snapask Thailand.
Speaking to CoinDesk, Lu provided more insight on the fund, stating that it is currently “oversubscribed” and is already 30 percent deployed, with 80 deals complete. He goes on to mention that he doesn’t want the fund to grow any further at this point of time since Web3 companies look for smaller rounds of funding. “They might be raising only $1 million (roughly Rs. 7.5 crore) or less,” Lu said, with average check sizes in the range of $250,000 (roughly Rs. 2 crore).
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