Iceberg Capital and the Venom Foundation, both headquartered in Abu Dhabi, have formed a strategic alliance to invest $1 billion in a range of Web3 applications.
As a result, the ‘blockchain-agnostic’ Venom Ventures Fund aims to invest in ‘innovative protocols and Web3 dApps … DeFi, banking services, and GameFi,’ the two Middle Eastern investment groups said in a statement.
Venom’s range of services is comprehensive, with plans to operate a venture capital arm and a startup incubator, as well as provide advisory services for founders, as stated on its website.
The company will also invest across the entire spectrum of startups ranging from grants of $25,000 – $200,000, to equity investments that span from seed-stage checks to late-stage capital.
“On the Venom Ventures side, our view is we will do from Seed to Series, A, B, C to IPO,” said Peter Knez, one of 2 people in charge of the fund. “Restricting yourself by stage rather than by quality of opportunity, if you have the capital, doesn’t really make sense — if you can do the homework.”
The fund and its size is coming at a period of suppressed activity in the crypto and blockchain industry which was rocked by multiple implosions in 2022.
“Even though the blockchain industry is witnessing a steep correction in prices, we believe that builders will continue to build and innovate,” Mustafa Kheriba, the other spokesperson for the fund said.
A good time to launch something like this is when liquidity is scarce. You can show up with a lot of capital and there’s a lot of people – good projects – that are having a hard time getting capital.”
According to its website, the fund aims to be the point where ‘old money meets new.’ The VVF team, in general, has a track record of expanding both Web3 and traditional funds, as well as providing growth capital for both startups and scaleups.
The creation of Venom Ventures is the result of a collaboration between Abu Dhabi-based Venom Foundation and Iceberg Capital, an investment management firm that is locally regulated. Venom is a Layer 1 blockchain that is licensed by the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and is specifically designed to cater to the requirements of the Middle East, North Africa, and other emerging markets.
The primary objective of the fund is to promote and support the growth of the Web3 industry in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has been a significant focus for the country in recent times.
Interested parties can submit their projects here.
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