Pantera, Kraken, and Others Join Consortium for Injective Labs’ $150M Fund

The digital asset markets have been shaky in the past year, but the blockchain sector continues to scale as demand intensifies from both crypto-native as well as traditional institutions eyeing to leverage the space.

Decentralized smart contracts platform Injective is the latest to announce a new $150 million ecosystem initiative to spur the adoption of interoperable infrastructure and DeFi.

Leading the charge is a consortium of prominent Web3 players such as Pantera Capital, Kraken Ventures, Jump Crypto, Kucoin Ventures, Delphi Labs, Flow Traders, Gate Labs, and IDG Capital, among others. Injective has assembled the largest consortium to date within the broader Cosmos ecosystem for the purpose.

$150M Fund

The members will focus on backing promising projects building within a diverse array of sectors encompassing interoperability, decentralized finance, trading, Proof-of-Stake (PoS) infrastructure, and scalability solutions.

Aside from a bespoke token, the consortium will also support via equity investments, alongside mentorship in technical development, cryptographic research, business development, marketing, community growth, etc.

According to the official press release shared with CryptoPotato, the focus will also be on founders building within Injective and the broader Cosmos ecosystem. Commenting on the initiative, Eric Chen, co-founder, and CEO of Injective Labs, the firm behind the layer-1 blockchain, stated,

“We’re thrilled to see some of the largest names in the industry joining Injective’s mission to create a more democratized financial system through decentralization. Developer activity on Injective is rapidly increasing with major projects and this new ecosystem fund will provide unmatched opportunities for new builders entering Web3 and the Cosmos ecosystem overall.”

Funding Round

Amid a brutal crypto winter, Injective Protocol raised $40 million in a round led by Jump Crypto last summer. Other participants leading the funding round included Brevan Howard Digital, the crypto arm of British billionaire hedge fund manager Alan Howard.

The fresh capital infusion was set to be used to support incoming developers. Building critical toolkits, support software, and core upgrades to expand the Injective ecosystem were some of the other key areas alongside increasing utility for its native token, INJ’s, and providing liquidity and support to dApps on its blockchain.