Kraken Ventures to raise $100M in second fund, with focus on ‘early stage founders’

Citing the organization’s extensive experience in having completed “hundreds of early stage investments,” Brandon Gath, managing partner for Kraken Ventures, told Cointelegraph in an email that the new fund would focus on early stage founders but would offer support throughout the venture:

“Kraken Ventures’ (KV) next fund will double down on our existing thesis and continue to support founders through their full journey from initial capital to IPO.”

This marks the second fund from Kraken Ventures. Its previous fund raised $65 million, according to Crunchbase, and was announced Dec. 17, 2021. The second fund’s $100 million aim represents a massive uptick, even as the venture market for blockchain and cryptocurrency-adjacent projects appears to be in somewhat of a decline.

Gath also mentioned that Kraken Ventures believes that “smaller funds best serve entrepreneurs and investors, as the entrepreneur gets a more hands-on partner, and data overwhelmingly shows that small funds outperform large funds,” indicating that the fund will likely be issued to numerous projects rather than one or two large-sized investments.

The email did, however, point out that a “significant portion” of the fund would be dedicated to follow-up investments.

#UnitedStates startup Rightfoot Raises $15M Series A Round from Bain Capital, Kraken Ventures, Renegade Partners, BoxGroup https://t.co/raC43BbBzW

— Parsers VC (@Parsers_vc) August 14, 2023

Kraken Ventures has reportedly invested in at least 32 companies, with the majority of the investments being Series A funding. Most recently, the group was part of an effort raising $15 million for fintech startup Rightfoot, which is building a data portal for computer-permissioned data.

Prior investments have included artificial intelligence companies, decentralized finance organizations and numerous blockchain technology companies.

According to Gath, though Kraken Ventures is an independent and fully autonomous organization, its mission aligns with cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, “to create a more open and transparent financial system by backing early-stage founders building blockchain-based products with that shared goal.”

Kraken Ventures plans to raise $100 million for its second crypto ventures fund, according to a spokesperson who confirmed the information in an email with Cointelegraph.