A new $50 million venture capital fund, called Proof of Capital, has been launched to back early-stage Blockchain companies.
According to a TechCrunch report published on Wednesday, the fund is being led by three industry experts - Phil Chen, an HTC executive who is in charge of the company’s blockchain phone Exodus, Edith Yeung, a partner at 500 Startups, and Thiel fellow Chris McCann.
Following a traditional approach
The San Fransisco-based fund will focus its investment on nascent blockchain startups working in various sectors including Fintech , infrastructure, and hardware. The report also detailed that the investments will be made in fiat, unlike many blockchain venture capitals that offer tokens to startups.
“It’s a VC fund so the setup is traditional,” Edith Yeung explained to TechCrunch. “There’s been a lot of interesting movements in the last two years, [but] we come from a more traditional VC background and are excited about the technology.”
Though the venture capital is primarily focusing on the Asian market, given the strong contacts of its two co-founders in the region, its first investment was made in a Latin America-based blockchain fintech startup named Ubanx.
“It’s still really early [for blockchain] and a lot of the hype — the boom and bust — is down to the crypto market and ICOs, but the reality is that a lot of these technologies are really nascent. Now, projects are raising equity, even if they have a token,” she added.
The fund also inked a partnership deal with HTC that will allow its portfolio companies to work with the consumer electronics manufacturer and develop products for its blockchain-enabled smartphone.
VCs are taking interest in blockchain
Though a bear has been dominating the crypto market for more than a year, many venture capitals popped up to bet on early-stage blockchain startups. Pantera Capital, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital, recently raised $160 million for its third blockchain-focused fund. The managers are aiming to include 35 startups in the fund’s portfolio.
Earlier this month, Finance Magnates reported that Okta launched a $50 million fund to invest in startups working on emerging technologies including blockchain and artificial intelligence.
