Not so long ago, many of the mainstream VCs made inroads into the digital currency ecosystem, making big moves in the cryptocurrency market. Despite its potential to revolutionise the world, there are many risks associated with it.
Already, enterprises and institutional giants like Fidelity, JP Morgan, Facebook, Walmart, and Square are embracing blockchain technology at an accelerating pace. According to a report by Andreesen Horowitz, startup and developer activity in the space has been growing 53.9% and 74.4% CAGR since 2010.
Closed €25.4M Digital Asset Fund
White Star Capital, a global multi-stage technology venture capital investment platform is the latest to join the bandwagon. Recently, the company has announced the first close of its new $30M (approx €25.5M) Digital Asset Fund.
The VC intends to invest this funding in crypto-networks and blockchain-enabled businesses at each layer of the tech stack including protocols, infrastructure, and applications.
“Digital Assets are gaining adoption, and venture valuations and token round distributions have rationalised, which is an attractive entry point,” says Sep Alavi, General Partner at White Star Capital Digital Asset.
“We are actively interested in investing in crypto protocols, infrastructure and middleware, privacy, financial, gaming, and social use cases,” he adds.
The company’s first specialty fund will be run by Alavi and supported by Principals Thomas Klocanas in New York, and Sanjay Zimmerman in Toronto.
Research-driven approach
As per the company, the VC will deploy between $500K (approx €424K) and $2M (approx €1.6M) in initial investments into 15-20 companies with a core focus on Europe and North America. In an attempt to maximise the return through early access in both equity and tokens, the New York-headquartered VC will take a research-driven approach.
So far, White Star Capital has made two investments – dfuse, a blockchain API company that helps developers build performant applications by organising the world’s decentralised data; and Multis, a Y Combinator-backed company, which offers “crypto-first” business banking accounts with an aspiration to bridge the gap between decentralised and legacy finance.
Moreover, the fund will also be deployed to the company’s extended team in London, Paris, and to its network of venture partners in Tokyo, Hong Kong, San Francisco, and Switzerland.
Helping entrepreneurs scale their businesses
Founded by Eric Martineau-Fortin, and Jean-Francois Marcoux in 2007, White Star Capital is investing in exceptional entrepreneurs globally, leveraging their extensive experience and networks to help them scale their businesses internationally. Right now, it operates in New York, London, Paris, Montreal, Toronto, Tokyo, and Hong Kong.
Main image credits: White Star Capital