VanEck will provide financing for early-stage crypto and AI companies
As the number of cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence (AI) startups continues to grow, the demand for funding to support these emerging companies has also increased. VanEck, a global investment management firm based in New York City, has announced plans to invest $30 million (approximately Rs. 258 crore) in promising crypto and AI startups. Currently, VanEck’s market capitalization stands at $26.9 billion (approximately Rs. 2,25,869 crore).
According to one official statement by VanEck, released this week, the investment pool for young startups has been launched under the VanEck Ventures brand.
Commenting on the development, Jan van Eck, CEO of VanEck, emphasized that the company was a pioneer in recognizing the potential of gold investments in 1968. Today, VanEck sees similar disruptive potential in Bitcoin, the world’s oldest and most valuable cryptocurrency, currently trading at $61,094 (approximately ₹51.2 lakh), according to CoinMarketCap.
“We look forward to supporting the founders of what we believe are some of the most disruptive companies in fintech – those building the future of finance,” he said.
The company expects to be able to make a maximum of 35 investments from the investment fund. Selected startups will get access to funding within a range of $500,000 (approximately Rs. 4.19 crore) to $1 million (approximately Rs. 8.39 crore).
Startups working around tokenized assets, web-connected financial marketplaces and stablecoin-based payment systems have a good chance of securing the necessary funding from VanEck Ventures. In its official statement, the company said that it has already released investments for four startups from this fund – details of which are yet to be announced.
“As several on-chain utilities focused on programmability and compliance come to market with increasing regulatory clarity, it has never been more exciting to build. Our goal is to be a long-term partner for bold founders who are defining the next phase of blockchain utility,” said Juan Lopez, General Partner at VanEck Ventures.
As of August 31, 2024, VanEck says it managed approximately $113.9 billion (approximately Rs. 9,56,459 crore) in assets, including mutual funds, ETFs and institutional accounts.
This year, crypto-focused startups reportedly managed to see larger investments from venture capital firms in the second quarter of 2024 than in the first quarter. In a recently released report by PitchBook, a total of $2.7 billion (approximately Rs. 22,672 crore) was invested in crypto startups through 503 deals between April and June this year.
In addition to VanEck, other companies backing early-stage Web3 startups include Paradigm, Brevan Howard Asset Management, Framework Ventures, Maven 11, Dragonfly and Haun Ventures.
