Binance Invests €100M in French Crypto Startups

Binance announced today that it had invested €100 million (around $108 million) in France to help the country’s Web3 startup scene.

Binance Partners With Station F

Binance has invested €100 million (around $108 million) in the French crypto scene in a bid to help grow the pie for everyone.

Speaking at Paris Blockchain Week Summit Wednesday, Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao announced that the firm had partnered with the world’s biggest startup incubator Station F and invested €100 million to help incubate French crypto startups. Zhao said that the aim of the investment is to grow the entire industry by supporting France’s crypto scene. “France is uniquely positioned to be the leader of this industry in Europe,” Zhao said at the conference, adding that the government’s attitude toward business and crypto “has been phenomenal.” He added that the French government was one of the most “progressive” and “open-minded” governments in the world.  

Besides pouring millions into the country’s Web3 startup scene, Zhao said that Binance plans to have people on the ground in Paris to advise and provide extensive support to French crypto startups. “We’ll invest in them, advise them on token economics, we’ll hopefully help them do their initial sells if their product gets traction, and then hopefully give them liquidity by listing them,” he said.

According to Station F director Roxanne Varza, who accompanied Zhao on stage, the partnership with Binance represents a first-in-kind endeavor for both entities. For Station F, it will be the first time the world’s largest startup campus will host a dedicated Web3 program. For Binance, it will be the company’s first time having direct involvement in an incubator program. 

Binance’s previous support of crypto startups has mostly been financial in nature. For example, Zhao revealed that over the last three years, Binance Labs, the exchange’s in-house social fund and startup incubator, has made significant investments into the space and seen huge returns despite believing it would lose money. He said: 

“Over the last three years, Binance Labs invested about $130 million roughly into about 100 projects. Today, the total liquid market value of those tokens or projects is about $7 billion, so we did 66x, actually slightly outperformed BNB.” 

According to Zhao, Binance is the fastest-growing company in the world and the fastest company to reach $1 billion in profit in history. As a result, Zhao himself has become the wealthiest person in crypto. Forbes recently estimated his net worth was around $65 billion, and that didn’t even factor for his holdings in BNB, BTC, and other digital assets.