By
Chimamanda U. Martha
May 8th, 2024
The launch of the VC fund in Hong Kong highlights the country’s rising role as a crypto haven.
CMCC Global, a crypto-focused venture capital (VC) company, has successfully raised $100 million to offer equity investments to early-stage blockchain startups across Asia with a particular interest in Hong Kong, its home country.
In an interview with the South China Morning Post, the company’s co-founder Martin Baumann said the inaugural funding round for the fund, called Titan Fund, concluded on October 4. The round saw participation from more than 30 investors, including blockchain company Block.one, Winklevoss Capital, Jebsen Capital, Yat Siu, founder of Animoca Brands, and Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li’s Pacific Century Group.
CMCC Global to Support Startups in Three Major Sectors in the Industry
The just concluded Titan Fund marks the company’s fourth financial round with a special focus on Hong Kong. According to Baumann, the fund will focus its investments on three major sectors in the industry: blockchain infrastructure, consumer applications, and financial services.
In blockchain infrastructure, CMCC Global intends to support startups that enhance the underlying technology of blockchain networks while consumer applications include backing startups in the gaming industry, metaverse development, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
On the other hand, financial services involve supporting businesses providing services such as digital assets trading platforms, wallets, and lending and borrowing platforms.
So far, the company has invested in five companies, with two of the investments going to Hong Kong-based crypto startups.
Last month, CMCC Global contributed to a financial round for Mocaverse, an NFT project launched by Hong Kong’s Animoca Brands in December 2022. Although the company did not disclose the amount of money it invested in the firm, Mocaverse raised $20 million, with other investors contributing to the round.
Similarly, the Hong Kong-based VC participated in a seed round fundraising in August for Terminal 3, a Web3 data infrastructure startup based in Hong Kong. Like Mocaverse, Terminal did not disclose the amount CMCC Global invested.
CMCC Global “Naturally Attached” to Hong Kong
The launch of the VC fund in Hong Kong highlights the country’s rising role as a crypto haven. Yen Shiau Sin, the managing director for the Titan Fund, said that the recent US crackdown on crypto has increased interest in Asian projects, considering Hong Kong as a favorable destination for their endeavors.
However, despite the company’s plan to focus on providing financial assistance to Hong Kong-based companies, Baumann explained that the Titan Fund does not have a strict mandate for how much capital will be allocated to companies in the country, asserting that the fund aims to provide financial backings to corporate entities around the world.
Baumann acknowledged Hong Kong’s position in the industry and its leniency towards crypto, noting that the city offers many potentials in the fintech innovation sector. He further stated that CMCC Global has a “natural attachment” to the country and aims to be the first capital for companies exploring the nation.
“If Hong Kong continues on its route of embracing Web3, there will naturally be more and more entrepreneurs starting companies in that space. And we can be their first capital,” Baumann told the South China Morning Post.
Meanwhile, the launch of the $100 million fund comes when the industry is experiencing a VC funding slump due to the ongoing bear market and other negative sentiments, including the FTX collapse last year.
According to Pitchbook data, there is a 70.9% year-on-year decline in crypto venture capital investments and a 55% drop in deals, a remarkable contrast to the 2021 robust funding and frequent emergence of unicorns.