Binance Labs, the venture capital arm of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has raised $500 million to create a fund that will invest in Web 3 and blockchain companies.
- DST Global Partners, Breyer Capital, Whampoa Group and other private equity funds participated in the capital raise, according to a blog post on Wednesday.
- "The goal of the newly closed investment fund is to discover and support projects and founders that have the potential to build and lead Web 3 in the areas of DeFi, NFTs, gaming, metaverse, social and more," Binance CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao said.
- The fund will make investments in companies in three stages: Incubation, Early-Stage Venture and Late-Stage Growth.
- Binance Labs' fund is the latest in a string of crypto funds recently launched by venture capitalists. Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) raised $4.5 billion last week, demonstrating its confidence in the market despite the recent downturn.
- The total market capitalization for cryptocurrencies is $1.3 trillion, down 55% since November, when it was $2.9 trillion.