The Variant Fund III will serve as a marquee seed fund in Web3. It seeks to invest in projects that see financial empowerment via blockchain computing, decentralized finance (DeFi), decentralized ownership, and Web 3 consumer applications.
The current state of “crypto winter” has seen investments slowing down significantly in the crypto sector. However, some funds are making the most of the bear market opportunities by investing in good-quality crypto projects. On Thursday, crypto investment fund Variant, founded by Andreessen Horowitz veterans, announced raising more than $450 million for a new umbrella fund.
The fund has been split into two parts of which the $300 million opportunities vehicle will “double-down on projects with demonstrated traction in our portfolio”. On the other hand, a $150-million seed purse shall be available for Web3 projects.
The Variant Fund III seeks to invest in projects that see financial empowerment via blockchain computing, decentralized finance (DeFi), decentralized ownership, and Web3 consumer applications. To support the new funds, the firm has also doubled the size of the staff. In a post on their website, Variant partners Li Jin, Spencer Noon and Jesse Walden wrote:
“Variant was designed for this moment in crypto. And we have stayed small for a reason: because it enables us to work intimately with our portfolio and guide founders through the most important questions they face early on in their journey. That work is as critical now as ever.”
The co-founders strongly believe that over the next three-five years, there will be a wave of high-quality projects which will lead to greater crypto adoption.
Crypto Investments by the Variant Fund
Earlier, crypto fund Variant has invested in a variety of projects. Previously, the firm invested in Ethereum-based DeFi protocol Euler Finance and smart contract platform Aztec Network.
Its previous two funds raised $22.5 million and $110 million respectively wherein the company invested in prominent Web3 platforms such as Mirror, Uniswap, Magic Eden, Polygon, and others. Jesse Walden admitted that the size of Variant funds has been relatively smaller than other funds like Andreessen Horowitz. Speaking to the Fortune publication, Walden explained:
“We aspire to be the marquee seed fund in Web3. We’ve always felt it’s important to make sure that the strategy of being the marquee seed fund in Web3 dictates the fund size, and not the other way around.”
As said the recent investments in Variant come when the rest of the crypto market is facing the bearish sentiment. In the first half of 2022, venture capital investments in crypto have tanked by 25% year-over-year. Investments have tanked to $9.3 billion from a record $12.5 billion the year ago.
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