VanEck Establishes $30M Venture Fund for AI, Fintech & Crypto Startups

TLDR:

• VanEck launches $30 million venture fund called VanEck Ventures
• Fund focuses on fintech, digital assets, and AI startups
• Led by former Circle Ventures executives Wyatt Lonergan and Juan Lopez
• Targets pre-seed and seed-stage companies with $500,000 to $1 million investments
• Aims to make 25-35 investments in total

VanEck, a global investment firm managing over $118 billion in assets, has announced the launch of VanEck Ventures, a new $30 million venture capital fund.

The fund aims to invest in early-stage startups operating in the fintech, digital assets, and artificial intelligence (AI) sectors.

VanEck Ventures will be led by Wyatt Lonergan and Juan Lopez, both formerly of Circle Ventures. The pair joined VanEck as general partners earlier this year, bringing their expertise in early-stage investments to the firm.

Lonergan revealed that they had been working in stealth mode to set up the fund, develop their investment thesis, and make their initial investments.

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— VanEck (@vaneck_us) October 9, 2024

The fund’s primary focus will be on pre-seed and seed-stage companies, with investment amounts ranging from $500,000 to $1 million. VanEck Ventures expects to make between 25 and 35 investments in total.

The fund has already made four unannounced investments, demonstrating its commitment to quickly identifying and supporting promising startups.

One of the key areas of interest for VanEck Ventures is the stablecoin market, particularly in the context of cross-border payments. Lopez highlighted the $39 trillion business-to-business cross-border payments market as a significant opportunity for innovation.

He believes that stablecoins on efficient blockchains like Solana can revolutionize this industry by addressing inefficiencies in existing payment systems.

The launch of VanEck Ventures builds on VanEck’s existing involvement in the crypto space. The firm was the first to file for a Bitcoin-linked ETF in 2017 and has since sought approval for various crypto-related investment products.

Earlier this year, VanEck received approval for both a spot Bitcoin ETF and a spot Ether ETF, further cementing its position as a pioneer in the crypto investment space.

VanEck’s move into venture capital comes at a time of increasing interest and funding in the crypto sector. According to PitchBook data, crypto venture capital firms had already raised $2.2 billion in new capital as of August this year, indicating a growing appetite for investment in this space.

The fund’s investment strategy will focus on tokenized assets, internet-native financial marketplaces, and next-generation payment systems built on stablecoins and tokenized capital markets.

Lonergan and Lopez believe that the convergence of stablecoins, blockchain technology, and AI breakthroughs is creating unprecedented opportunities for globally connected, user-centric financial experiences.

VanEck Ventures will leverage the expertise of VanEck’s global team, which consists of 400 employees. This collaborative approach will allow the fund to tap into a wealth of knowledge and resources as it navigates the rapidly evolving fintech and crypto landscapes.

Jan van Eck, CEO of VanEck, emphasized the firm’s history of embracing transformative opportunities, from pioneering gold investing in 1968 to recognizing Bitcoin’s potential in 2017.

He views the launch of VanEck Ventures as an extension of this forward-thinking philosophy into the early-stage venture space.