Abu Dhabi-based Venom Foundation announced on Tuesday the launch of a $1 billion venture capital fund aimed at investing in blockchain start-ups including web3 decentralized applications, or dApps, and metaverse projects.
Venom Ventures Fund said it will prioritize projects “focused on long-term trends like payments, asset management, banking services,” and cryptocurrency gaming.
“We believe that by combining traditional and new finance, we can transform asset management and create long-term value for our investors,” said Venom Ventures Fund chairman Peter Knez, in a statement shared with MetaNews.
Besides investments, the fund also runs an incubation program that provides networking, “exchange support, marketing, market making, tech, legal and regulatory support,” added Knez, a former investments chief at asset manager BlackRock.
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Venom makes first metaverse foray, a $20mn bet
Venom Ventures Fund is part of the Venom Foundation, a blockchain and cryptocurrency network that is focused on investing in the Middle East and North Africa and South Asia regions (MENA), and elsewhere around the world.
The foundation received a license to operate a blockchain and issue crypto tokens from authorities in the United Arab Emirates in October last year. It claims to be the “first crypto foundation” registered in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), a hub for fintech and innovation.
The Venom blockchain uses a technology known as “sharding”, which improves the number of transactions processed per second (TPS) while making them faster and cheaper. Venom says it can process 100,000 TPS at an average of $0.0005 per transaction.
In its statement, Venom Ventures Fund revealed it was making its “first” investment of $20 million in Nümi Metaverse, a so-called “universal platform for creators, innovators, and followers.” The firm is expected to launch what its calling a “Visual Novel” later this month.
Management says Visual Novel is “a mini-game experience with a range of special prizes for players,” as per the statement. It adds that the “Nümiverse is coming to [virtual reality] VR devices in 2023, followed by PC and mobile in 2024.”
More projects in the pipeline
Venom said the “Nümi investment is the first in the row with many more to follow in the upcoming quarters.” It stated that project founders can apply for funding through the Venom Ventures Fund website. Venom did not give details about how Venom Ventures Fund (VVF) will be financed.
The fund is led by people with background from both the traditional and cryptocurrency markets. It includes Mustafa Kheriba, executive chairman of Iceberg Capital, Kai-Uwe Steck, an attorney who manages Pontinova Circle Investment Group, and Osman Sultan, CEO of Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company.
The Venom Foundation road map includes a non-custodial wallet, a transaction scanning tool and a multi-chain bridging tool. The ecosystem will also include validator node staking pool, and a gateway to the token VenomGet.
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