More than $350 million has been raised by crypto venture capital firms Polychain Capital and Coinfund, with respective raises of $200 million for a new investment fund and $152 million for a seed fund .
A Forbes July 18 report said Polychain’s $200 million was raised in the “first closing” of its fourth investment fund, according to people familiar with the matter. Closing means that Polychain has now signed agreements with investors and can begin providing funding to startups and projects.
Despite the significant increase, Polychain still intends to raise $400 million in total for the new fund. Additionally, Polychain has terminated three members of its research team due to its new investment priorities.
Polychain currently manages a total of three funds with approximately $2.6 billion in assets under management, according to Pitchbook data.
Despite a steady decline in VC funding for crypto projects for more than a year, VC firm Coinfund also raised $152 million for its fourth seed fund, according to a July 18 Bloomberg report. . report.
July is CoinFund’s 8th anniversary, celebrating the journey of @jbrukh @flexthink and the team from the kitchen table to the caps table. We are excited to reinforce this milestone with the announcement that CoinFund has closed its $158 million Seed IV fund to support the leaders of the new Internet.
pic.twitter.com/6kwBFuIHiy—CoinFund (@coinfund_io) July 18, 2023
Coinfund CEO Jake Brukhman said the company aimed to raise $125 million, but managed to raise an additional $27 million due to renewed interest in the industry.
Related: US ‘Dominates’ Crypto Startup Funding in Q2: Report
According data from business analytics firm Crunchbase.
Investors have reportedly been wary of the crypto sector, following the collapse of Do Kwon’s Terra Money ecosystem, Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX and a number of other high-profile ventures over the past of the last two years.
This has caused a retreat into more traditional market sectors and many venture capitalists have become wary of new investments in all areas, the one notable exception being artificial intelligence.
As of January 1, the AI industry had seen in excess of $12 billion in venture capital as investors rush to capitalize on the nascent sector.
Asia Express: China extends CBDC tentacles, Malaysia is HK’s new crypto rival
