UAE-based Venom Foundation launches $1 billion fund for Web3 and blockchain
Venom Foundation, a blockchain layer-1 solution, and Iceberg Capital, an Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) investment management business, have joined forces to create a fund in which they will invest $1 billion in Web3 and blockchain companies.
Protocols and Web3 decentralized apps (DApps) in the areas of payments, asset management, decentralized finance (DeFi) and game financing (GameFi) will be targeted investments for Venom Ventures Fund (VVF), it announced on January 11.
Iceberg Capital plans to use its established connections to offer incubation services, introductions to relevant parties in the industry, promotion, IPO and guidance in law, technology and regulations, the two firms state in a press release.
Iceberg Capital will manage the $1 billion fund
The fund will be managed by Iceberg Capital, and it will invest in businesses and projects from pre-seed through Series A investment stages. The collaboration’s ultimate goal is to increase the pace at which companies create blockchain, DeFi and Web3 services and products.
Former CIO of BlackRock and former global CIO of fixed income at Barclays Global Investors Peter Knez, chairman of Venom Ventures, claimed that the Venom Foundation had seeded the fund, the firm’s founders and regional institutional and private investors. Furthermore, the fund is not limited to businesses in Abu Dhabi, but will also support organizations and initiatives with a worldwide reach.
According to the website, the fund’s mission is to be where “old money meets new”. The VVF group has broad expertise in the areas of fundraising and business development, having supported the expansion of both Web3 and conventional funds and acted as a source of growth capital for both startups and scaleups.
While the fund was being announced, VVF also led a $20 million fundraising round for Nümi Metaverses, a company focused on creating virtual worlds in the metaverse.
Interestingly, this fund is one of the few large funds emerging in this category at this time, which is particularly noteworthy given the current bear market. Although new billion-dollar-plus funds appeared to be established at a regular clip during the last bull run, that trend has since slowed.
