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VanEck Launches $30 Million Crypto Venture Fund, Targets Fintech and AI Startups
- VanEck announces a new US$30 million venture fund focusing on fintech, crypto, and AI, with investments of about US$1 million across 25-30 startups.
- General partner Wyatt Lonergan emphasises the fund’s focus on fintech at the intersection of crypto and AI, highlighting stablecoins as central to its strategy.
- The fund plans to leverage blockchain and AI to transform financial services, reducing intermediaries, and enhancing transaction efficiency.
- VanEck continues its tradition of pioneering investments, aiming to support disruptive fintech innovations and reshape financial markets.
VanEck is deepening its ties with the crypto industry with its latest announcement. The US$110 billion (AU$163.7 billion) asset manager is launching a venture fund that will target crypto and fintech, as well as artificial intelligence (AI).
The $30 million (AU$44.6 million) early-stage fund will invest around US$1 million (AU$1.48 million) in around 25-30 allotments.
Wyatt Lonergan, a general partner at VanEck Ventures told CNBC about the fund’s approach to crypto:
We see ourselves as a fintech fund first and foremost at the intersection of crypto and AI. Crypto is the value layer and stablecoins to us are very core to that thesis.
Wyatt Lonergan, VanEck Ventures Financial Institutions to Leverage Tokenisation , Create New Assets and Markets
Lonergan said the venture capital fund is strategically focused on using advancements in blockchain technology and artificial intelligence to reshape the financial services sector.
Related: US GOV Readies Itself to Unleash $4.33B in BTC on Crypto Market
He added that the fund is set on leveraging stablecoins and tokenisation. These technologies promise to disrupt existing financial infrastructures by eliminating middlemen, decreasing transaction times, and cutting fees.
I think you’re going to see a lot of institutions start to leverage this and tokenization for us really just builds upon the formation that stablecoins have already enabled. And now you can create net new assets and markets that were previously illiquid or hard to access. So, I think it’s going to create a Cambrian explosion.
Wyatt Lonergan, VanEck Ventures VanEck Keen to Continue Pioneering Role
In a press release, VanEck said it’s dedicated to funding founders who are redefining financial applications and markets through the use of emerging technologies such as blockchain and large language models.
It stated further that the fund emphasises investments in startups that are creating applications with a technology-neutral approach to infrastructure.
Jan van Eck, CEO of VanEck, said the company is ready to lend support to those who “are some of the most disruptive companies in fintech—those building the future of finance”.
Related: Crypto Adoption is Outpacing Other Technologies, Growing Faster Than Internet
He highlighted the firm’s history of adopting transformative investment strategies, which they hope to continue with their new fund:
From pioneering an approach to gold investing in 1968 to recognizing the disruptive potential of Bitcoin in 2017, embracing a long-term view on transformative opportunities has always been part of our investment philosophy. This fund extends that vision into the early-stage venture space.
Jan van Eck, VanEck VanEck holds the sixth largest US Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) and the fifth largest Ethereum fund.
Author
Aaron Feuerstein
Aaron Feuerstein is a freelance writer based in Melbourne. His focus is on decentralised finance and the regulatory space surrounding blockchain. He holds a Master's in Accounting. When he is not studying the latest legal case, he enjoys his time as a modest but eager hobby cook.
