Infinity Ventures Crypto Closes $70M Fund

IVC wants to bridge the east and west in Web 3 without getting too big and bulky, says partner Brian Lu.

By Sam Reynolds

Feb 9, 2022 at 1:00 a.m. UTC

Updated Feb 9, 2022 at 8:40 a.m. UTC

Sam Reynolds

Follow @thesamreynolds on Twitter

Infinity Ventures Crypto, a Taipei-based Web 3 investor, said it raised $70 million to deploy to startups in Asia and the Americas in its first fund, which closed today.

The fund’s strength is bridging the gap between the east, particularly southeast Asia, and the west, partner Brian Lu said in an interview with CoinDesk.
Circle, Digital Currency Group and Animoca Brands participated in the fund, according to a release. (DCG is the parent company of CoinDesk.)
Lu said the fund is oversubscribed, and he doesn’t want it to grow too large because Web 3 companies look for smaller rounds. They might be raising only $1 million or less, Lu said, and average check sizes could be in the range of $250,000. The fund is already 30% deployed, with 80 deals complete.
While Lu sits in Taipei, his fund is global with a split of 55% Asia and 35% Americas.
Lu points to crypto wallet MetaMask, which disclosed that its top countries for active users include the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand, as creating investor interest in Asia-focused Web 3 projects.
Another of the fund's partners is Richie Jiaravanon, whose family runs CP Group, one of Thailand’s largest business conglomerates. With COVID-19 restricting travel, Lu said Jiaravanon's location in southeast Asia helps with a "boots on the ground" approach that’s impossible over Zoom.
The only way IVC was able to get onto the cap table – or list of token holders – for Philippines-based gaming guild YGG, the majority of which had been taken up by a16z, was a promise to help expand YGG across southeast Asia into markets like Thailand.
There are more funds in the works, Lu said, as he wants to start one every year and a half.
Lu is also an active Software as a Service (SaaS) investor and partner at venture firm Headline’s Asia office, which counts Groupon and dating app Bumble in its portfolio.

UPDATE (Feb. 9, 08:30 UTC): Clarifies that while "cap table" can refer to equity and token owners, YGG only conducted a token sale. Removes reference to Sequoia from seventh bullet point after YGG also clarified that Sequoia had invested only in an India-based subsidiary of YGG.

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