With crypto adoption soaring throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), two of the region’s heavy hitters have joined forces to launch a $1 billion venture fund to support groundbreaking web3 dApps and protocols.
The Venom Foundation, which manages the world’s first regulated blockchain network, has teamed up with investment manager Iceberg Capital to build a ten-figure war chest dedicated to accelerating the adoption of blockchain, DeFi, and web3 in MENA and beyond.
Venom Ventures Fund Sees Liftoff
The landmark Venom Ventures Fund (VVF) will be operated by Iceberg Capital, who will participate in a mix of pre-seed and Series A rounds, backing projects and teams building products that address real-world problems. Capital will be allocated on a blockchain-agnostic basis and focus on long-term trends such as banking, payments, DeFi, GameFi, and asset management.
At the helm of VVF will be seasoned investors and blockchain professionals such as Peter Knez, ex-Global Chief Investment Officer at BlackRock, and Mustafa Kherbia, who serves as Managing Director of several family offices in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Both the Venom Foundation and Iceberg Capital operate under the jurisdiction of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), a fast-growing financial center situated in the heart of the UAE’s capital. The ADGM was founded ten years ago to promote entrepreneurship throughout the United Arab Emirates and the wider MENA region.
Although the Venom network is already home to a vast portfolio of in-house dApps and protocols, developers building on a host of different blockchains will be eligible for support – and not just financial. Projects that win funding can also count on strategic mentorship from Iceberg Capital, which specializes in traditional asset management services such as investment portfolios, financial instruments (equities, ETFs, etc), and securities, in addition to blockchain services.
The Venom Ventures Fund has now become one of the biggest investment funds in the industry, on a par with Animoca Brands’ web3 and metaverse mutual fund which was recently downsized from $2bn to $1bn.
Venom Ventures Chairman Peter Knez hailed the announcement, saying, “We are ready to allocate strategic investments in the most innovative web3 startups that are poised for mass adoption. Our mission is to transform digital asset management and make a lasting impact on the industry. Venom is the ideal platform for us to achieve this goal.”
Iceberg Capital’s Mustafa Kheriba added that the fund will be “providing financial, technical, and marketing support to the most promising teams and projects in Web3 space to help them bring their visions to life.”
Kheriba and Knez have already made their first VVF investment, having participated in the December funding round of the Nümi Metaverse. The round attracted capital from some 150 investors, with VVF making an undisclosed pledge. Nümi is on track to launch its VR metaverse by the end of 2023.
Although market conditions have been bearish of late, investment continues to pour into the web3 space. Last year, some $7.1 billion was raised by web3 projects with gaming, metaverse, and social networks being the most popular investment categories.
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