Venom Foundation, a layer-1 blockchain licensed and regulated by the Abu Dhabi Global Market, and investment manager Iceberg Capital have partnered to launch a $1 billion venture fund, the two firms announced on Wednesday.
The $1 billion vehicle, Venom Ventures Fund (VVF), is a blockchain-agnostic fund that will invest in pre-seed to Series A rounds for web3 protocols and decentralized applications (dApps) that focus on trends like payments, asset management, DeFi, banking services and GameFi.
The fund’s leadership team includes Peter Knez, ex-CIO of BlackRock and former global CIO for fixed income at Barclays Global Investors, and Mustafa Kheriba, a board member for multiple family offices and long-term investment professional in the Middle East and North African regions.
The fund aims to be the intersection where “old money meets new,” according to its website. In general, the VVF team has experience growing both web3 funds and traditional funds as well as experience in providing growth capital for both startups and scaleups.
“Through the provision of our accelerator programs, grants and targeted capital injections, VVF provides the support and resources required to help its portfolio companies,” Knez said to TechCrunch.
VVF will also use Iceberg Capital’s resources to offer incubation programs, among other things. It will also assist projects with marketing, exchange listing, technical, legal and regulatory support, the two firms said in a press release.
“With a steadfast commitment to identifying and investing in highly promising, scalable and consumer-focused companies within the rapidly emerging web3 ecosystem, VVVF is actively investing and building a portfolio of leading-edge web3 firms that are poised to achieve widespread adoption and achieve significant growth,” Knez said.
Alongside the fund’s announcement, VVF also made its first investment leading digital world-focused Nümi Metaverse’s $20 million funding round.
Amid the current downward market, this fund is one of the few massive funds popping up in the space right now. During the last bull run, it seemed like a number of billion-dollar to multibillion-dollar funds were popping up frequently, but now, not so much.
“Venom Ventures is determined to make a meaningful impact by leveraging its financial strength to provide value in a number of key areas including regulation, technology and acceleration,” Knez said. “Recognizing that these are challenging times, VVF is committed to fostering innovation, driving growth and creating opportunities for its portfolio companies to succeed.”