US based Tykhe Block Ventures to allocate $10 million USD to Blockchain start-ups in MENA

US based Tykhe Block Ventures to allocate $10 million USD to Blockchain start-ups in MENA

US based Tykhe Block Ventures which recently raises $30 million for its Blockchain growth fund is allocating $10 million of that to Blockchain and Web3 start-ups in MENA region.

Tykhe Block Ventures (part of Heru Finance) is a blockchain-centric multi-strategy fund established in Wyoming, USA. The fund invests in ventures within the Web 3.0/ blockchain sector with a focus on decentralization technologies, digital assets, and their key enabling infrastructure. The fund has invested in 25+ blockchain projects including dWalletLabs, Trust Machines, FanTiger, and RMRK.

The fund is led by Prashant Malik, well-regarded in the technology world as the Inventor of Cassandra (Now Apache Cassandra). He is also one of the top angel investors in SEA (50+ investments, 8 unicorns).

As per their LinkedIn post the company states it is thrilled to announce the first close of our $30 Mn Blockchain Growth Fund.

In addition, Tykhe is also in the process of setting up an office in Dubai UAE and plans to launch a $100 million fund later in 2023.

The company was founded in 2021 by tech investor Prashant Malik. Malik believes that the blockchain sector will prove resilient to the fallout from the bankruptcy of crypto exchange FTX, stating that the companies that have imploded of late are all centralised entities and, therefore, not related or correlated to the decentralisation ethos of blockchain technology.

Prashant Malik in a press release published on Cointelegraph MENA Arabic stated, “ In 2021 My partners and I launched a Blockchain Fund which did well, which led us to believe in the importance of funds to grow the Blockchain sector. We launched $30 million fund because investors are interested just like the interest was in social media when it first started.”

Investors in MENA region tend to increase their investments in Blockchain sector as per a recent survey by LaraontheBlock.

The First MENA grown $1 billion fund for Web3 and Blockchain launches

The First MENA grown $1 billion fund for Web3 and Blockchain launches

In what seems to be a great start for Blockchain and Web3 ecosystem in the MENA region, the first $1 billion fund was announced by UAE based Venom Foundation and Iceberg Capital under Venom Ventures Fund.

As per the press release, Venom Ventures Fund is allocating $1 billion to invest in Web3, blockchain and cryptocurrency projects and services. This is the first $1 billion fund for Web3 and Blockchain to originate from the MENA region. Prior to this UAE Cypher Capital had announced its allocation of $200 million for Blockchain, Web3 and Crypto at the end of 2022 and Shurooq Partners had allocated $150 million for the same.

Venom Foundation is the first Layer-1 blockchain licensed and regulated by the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). In October 2022, Venom Foundation added a regulated virtual asset exchange to its roster. The UAE based exchange formerly known as Yoshi Markets was re-names to Venomex. Venomex had received financial services permission from FSRA at ADGM allowing it to operate as a multilateral trading facility and custodian for virtual assets.

As for the blockchain-agnostic fund, it will invest in innovative protocols and Web3 dApps, focusing on long-term trends such as payments, asset management, DeFi, banking services, and GameFi. It aims to become the leading supporter of the next-generation digital technologies and entrepreneurs.

Venom Ventures Fund (VVF) will leverage Iceberg Capital’s network, expertise, and capabilities to offer incubation programs and access to an extensive industry network. Furthermore, it will assist the investee projects with marketing, exchange listing, technical, legal, and regulatory support.

The fund’s leadership team consists of experienced traditional finance and blockchain professionals; including Peter Knez, ex-CIO at BlackRock and Mustafa Kheriba, a seasoned and well-known investment professional with an impressive track record in the MENA region. Mustafa has served on the Board of Directors of several financial services and insurance companies in the Middle-east and Europe.

As per the announcement, the fund operated by Iceberg Capital, will be investing in projects and teams from pre-seed to Series A rounds. It will strive to accelerate the adoption of blockchain, DeFi, and Web3 while generating long-term value for investors.

Mustafa Kheriba, the Executive Chairman of Iceberg Capital, stated, “We are thrilled to partner with Venom Foundation, launching their new $1 billion fund. Even though the blockchain industry is witnessing a steep correction in prices, we believe that builders will continue to build and innovate. With Venom Ventures, we 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.”

Peter Knez, Chairman of Venom Ventures, added, “I am delighted to be a part of the launch of our new Venture Capital fund here in Abu Dhabi. I am excited to work with a team of experienced investment professionals and talented people from the crypto industry, and we are ready to allocate strategic investments in the most innovative web3 start-ups 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.”

With regards to investments, already Venom Ventures Fund (VVF)  has led a $20 million funding in Nümi Metaverse.  Nümi Metaverse is a universal platform for creators, innovators, and followers. Nümi will launch its ‘Visual Novel’ in 2023, a mini-game experience with a range of special prizes for players.

Nümi will also launch VR metaverse by the end of this year, followed by a PC and mobile version in 2024. The Nümi investment showcases the fund’s investment strategy. Developers and builders working on innovative Web3 projects are invited to apply for funding through the Venom Ventures Fund website.

In an interview with Cointelegraph, Venom Ventures chairman Peter Knez noted that the Venom Foundation, its founders and regional institutional and private investors had seeded capital for the fund. The fund will support companies and projects with a global footprint and is not limited to Abu Dhabi-based firms.

The investment fund will look to attract startups and technology firms to use Venom’s scalable, proof-of-stake-based blockchain solution. Knez highlighted key services that could operate on top of its ADGM-regulated blockchain:

“Payment systems, central bank digital currencies (CBDC), stablecoins and remittance are core services that Venom can provide a solution for due to our unique blend of technology and enterprise.”Knez also believes that the platform could power a multitude of use cases, highlighting the potential for micropayment solutions driving Web3 business models and financial inclusion.

Abu Dhabi investment firm ADQ launches $200 million fund for Digital assets Fintech, and supplychain

Abu Dhabi investment firm ADQ launches $200 million fund for Digital assets Fintech, and supplychain

Abu Dhabi’s ADQ and Further Ventures, an investment firm back by ADQ have launched a $200 million fund focused on Fintech, digital assets and supplychain.

As per the news, entrepreneurs and experienced executives who choose to launch their next venture with Further will have access to product and engineering resources for concept development; seed capital required to take the business to Series A; and reserved capital for following on through multiple rounds of funding beyond capital investment.

Further ventures also has a dedicated team that provides legal and regulatory support, talent sourcing and recruitment, operations, and business development expertise with access to some of the largest organizations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as well as venture builders globally, as part of Further’s extensive network.

Further is focused on building, digital asset payments products, blockchain asset custody, security solutions, marketplaces, wallets and other infrastructure for institutions. In addition to Fintech, such as wealth management, SME finance, financial inclusion, remittance, and payroll .

Finally they will focus on supply chain examples of which include digital freight and warehouse management companies and other supply chain-related business.

In addition to launching its own ventures with founders, the firm will also establish the Further Network by actively investing in and co-creating start-ups with leading global venture builders.

UAE Alawad Fund launches 300 million crypto mining and blockchain investment fund

UAE Alawad Fund launches 300 million crypto mining and blockchain investment fund

UAE Alawad Fund announced the launch of their 300 million USD Blockchain crypto investment fund which consists of two main sub funds. The first Fund is focused on cryptocurrency mining while the second is on crypto and Blockchain. The chairman of the fund is His Excellency Sheikh Alawad. As per the website the fund has gained regulatory approval out of DAFZA (Dubai Airport Free Zone). The CEO of the Fund is Jojo Jiang.

The fund is said to invest in virtual assets, blockchain startups, crypto exchanges, with a focus on Bitcoin mining. The Cryptocurrency Mining Sub-fund focuses on cryptocurrency miner supply chain finance and cryptocurrency mining farm constructions. As per an article on Bitcoinist, ” The first Fund is a total of 300 million USD.”

The second sub fund is the investment fund, which will invest in project with sufficient industry experience. The main investment areas are Web 3.0, Metaverse, GameFi & DAO. 10 percent of fund will be allocated to the above and 90 percent will be quantitative investment using statistical algorithms and machine learning.

Currently AlAwad Fund has made investments in two entities, MBTC Mining and Ankots. MBTC mining is a next Generation Crypto providing a Cross-chain Trust Standard in the Metaverse. MBTC mining requires hash power from NFT miners using next-gen proof-of-NFT validation with zero energy consumption. The maximum supply of MBTC is 21,000,000. Mining rewards are 50MBTC per 10mins initially and will be halved every four years.

Ankots is a gameFi play to Earn platform that utilizes NFTs.

MENA Investors invest 5 million USD in TGV4 Plus 146 million Follow on Fund

MENA Investors invest 5 million USD in TGV4 Plus 146 million Follow on Fund

 True Global Ventures 4 Plus (TGV4 Plus) Fund has closed its US$146m Follow on Fund. The Follow on Fund will double down on the TGV4 base fund investments, the likes of Animoca, Sandbox, Forge, Chromaway, CoinHouse, GCEX, and others. Interestingly 40 percent of the Follow on Fund was raised from partners in Middle East, India and Asia. Investment from Middle East partners was 3.4 percent of the 40 percent making their total participation 5 million USD. While portfolio companies such as GCEX, Enjinstarter and IoMob have established operations in Dubai UAE. TGV4 Plus has been partnering with MENA based investors including Cypher Capital and Crypto Oasis among others. 

Valerie Hawley, Affiliate Founding Partner, Middle East True Global Ventures 4 Plus , told LaraOntheBlock, “More than 40% of the Follow on Fund has been raised from partners based in the Middle East, India and Asia, of those 3.4 percent were from Middle East Partners in particular. This just goes to show the increasing importance this region has to play in the Venture Capital space.  Numerous portfolio companies from our base fund, GCEX, Enjinstarter and IoMob, have established operations in Dubai, and we expect many more to do so given the crypto friendly environment the UAE has established with the creation of VARA (Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority).”

The TGV4 plus Follow on Fund  whose 15 General Partners (GP), lead the fund and its Investment Committee, put in more than US$62m of their money into the fund. This is a total GP commitment of over 40% of the total fund size and over US$4m per GP on average. The first capital call of the fund has been fully paid in.

The TGV 4 Plus base fund invested in serial entrepreneurs leading globally ambitious Blockchain start-ups. It covers 20 cities in North America, Europe and Asia. The fund is dedicated to Web3 companies, primarily in late-stage Series A, B and C across 3 verticals: Entertainment & gaming, financial services, infrastructure & data analytics / Artificial Intelligence (AI).

It has invested in some of the leading Web3 companies such as Animoca Brands, The Sandbox, Forge, Chromaway, Coinhouse, GCEX, Chronicled and others. 

The new Follow on Fund will focus on investing a majority of its capital into selected TGV 4 Plus base fund companies. It might also invest in other late stage Web3 deals opportunistically.

“The base fund has been a fantastic success, but we are still only in the starting blocks of Web3. We believe that our early winners will grow even stronger and with the Follow on Fund, we give our partners an opportunity to invest more into these companies” says Fredrik Adolfsson, General Partner.

“After some years of growth, our best portfolio companies are looking to expand even further. We want to help and assist them with the Follow On Fund, as we are ready on the starting blocks, when many growth funds focus on regaining investors’ trust during this period”, says Konrad Wawruch, General Partner.

General Partner Dušan Stojanović adds, “We raised the money in record time in 4 months and we believe this is the best time to invest during market corrections. I would say that it is much easier to see more clearly who the winners are now. This has created a high level of confidence amongst our investors who have seen a large GP Commit and the first call being executed very quickly”.