The crypto market has started to revive after the sharp drops. Projects in the market are attracting attention again. Crypto investment firm Variant will focus on Web3 altcoin projects with a $150 million startup fund. It will also double its portfolio projects with a separate $300 million opportunity fund.
Variant launches fund for new investments
Crypto investment firm Variant was founded by Andreessen Horowitz veterans. The company has created a $150 million seed fund for Web3 altcoin projects. It has also set up a new umbrella fund of $300 million. In this context, it managed to raise 450 million dollars in funds. It has more than doubled projects that have proven traction in the portfolio, according to a website post published Thursday.
cryptocoin.com In the first half of 2022, venture capital investments in crypto fell 26% year-over-year. Variant started its third fund during such a bear market. Investments were at a record $12.5 billion in the first half of last year, according to Crunchbase data. Now it’s down to $9.3 billion.
Investment theses for Variant Fund III include financial empowerment through decentralized finance (DeFi), Blockchain computing, Web3 consumer applications, and new forms of decentralized ownership. The firm doubled its headcount to 15 to support the new funds.
Altcoin projects that Variant invests in
The firm has previously invested in privacy-focused smart contract platform Aztec Network, Ethereum-based DeFi protocol Euler Finance (EUL), Polygon (MATIC), and Uniswap (UNI). Variant Fund III follows the second funding of $110 million last October, and itself comes nearly a year after the initial $22.5 million. Variant partners Li Jin, Spencer Noon, and Jesse Walden share:
The founders designed the Variant for this moment in crypto. And for some reason we remained small. Because it allows us to work closely with our portfolio and guide founders through the most important questions they face early in their journey. This work is now as critical as ever.
Euler Finance allows users to earn interest on their crypto assets without the need for a trusted third party. That is, it helps them hedge against volatile markets. So Euler is a capital-efficient permissionless lending protocol. Euler includes permissionless lending markets and reactive interest rates. There are also protected collateral, MEV-proof liquidations, and multilateral stabilization pools. With these features, it tries to make a difference in DeFi.
