VanEck to invest 30M dollars in crypto and fintech startups
Leading global investment management company VanEck has announced the launch of VanEck Ventures, a $30 million early-stage fund dedicated solely to funding innovative founders working at the intersection of cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence (AI), and fintech.
This announcement marks the company’s strategic expansion into venture capital, extending its track record of identifying and supporting transformative markets.
VanEck fund to support innovative early-stage startups
Our investment philosophy has always included a long-term perspective on transformative opportunities, from inventing a method for gold investing in 1968 to realizing the disruptive potential of Bitcoin in 2017. VanEck CEO Jan van Eck said this $30 million fund expands that vision into the early-stage venture space.
VanEck Ventures makes investments in founders who are defining new categories and pushing the limits of financial applications and markets by utilizing emerging technologies like big language models and blockchain.
The investment philosophy of the fund is centered on supporting outstanding teams that are developing at the application layer while keeping an infrastructure-agnostic approach. Next-generation payments based on stablecoins and tokenized capital markets, tokenized assets, and internet-native financial marketplaces are among the fund's primary investment themes.
Juan Lopez, General Partner at VanEck Ventures, said there has never been a more exciting moment to build as a number of on-chain utilities that prioritize compliance and programmability enter the market with increased regulatory clarity.
Wyatt Lonergan and Juan Lopez to lead VanEck Ventures fund
Wyatt Lonergan and Juan Lopez, two seasoned investors with backgrounds in fintech and cryptocurrency ventures, led the fund. In their previous roles, Lonergan and Lopez led Circle Ventures, the venture division of USDC-issuer Circle, where they made more than $50 million in profitable early-stage investments in companies ranging from infrastructure to consumer apps.
Wyatt Lonergan, General Partner at VanEck Ventures, said the emergence of stablecoins as an open-source banking layer, the commoditization of blockspace, and advancements in artificial intelligence are three turning points that are fundamental to our investment thesis and are beginning to reshape the internet's foundation.
Investment size
VanEck Fund, which focuses on companies offering both financial and strategic opportunities, expects to make 25 to 35 investments with check sizes ranging from $500,000 to $1 million. The fund has made four unannounced investments so far.
About two-thirds of VanEck Ventures' funding came from outside investors, with the remaining portion coming from VanEck itself, according to a report published by The Information. It is said that the fund will invest in stocks and companies in return for project-related tokens.
VanEck managed about $113.9 billion in assets as of August 31, 2024, which included institutional accounts, mutual funds, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The firm's capabilities include more specialized exposures to improve portfolio diversification as well as core investment opportunities.
Disclaimer
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