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May 19, 2022 Coin Telegraph

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“GAMES FUND ONE” will invest in game studios, consumer apps and game infrastructure providers with a16z saying the industry has “solved many of the problems” needed to make a Metaverse.

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has launched a $600 million fund dedicated to gaming startups with a focus on Web3 saying it believes “games infrastructure and technologies will be key building blocks of the Metaverse.”

Dubbed “GAMES FUND ONE” the fund will invest in three main areas: game studios, consumer applications which support player communities with Discord used as an example, and gaming infrastructure providers.

The a16z team said “the coming Metaverse will be built by games companies, using games technologies” and that the industry has already “solved many of the problems that need to be solved to create the Metaverse.” It believes games will become the “dominant way people spend time.”

The move by a16z marks nearly $3 billion committed by venture funds and gaming industry giants into Web3 gaming or Metaverse projects since mid-April. Venture firm White Star Capital raised $120 million for its decentralized finance (DeFi) and gaming focused fund along with a $200 million allocation to blockchain gaming projects by Framework Ventures both taking place in April 2022.

Metaverse projects are also gaining massive sums from gaming industry titans. Last month Epic Games, creator of the popular Fortnite title, raised $2 billion to create a metaverse with funding from Sony and LEGO.

The team at a16z pointed at the billions of dollars in revenue thatgames such as Minecraft generate, using the open world game as an example of a title that has retained a long-term active community which functions more like a social network. Minecraft is the current all-time highest selling game and has seen 173 million average monthly players over the past 30 days according to figures from game statistics platform ActivePlayer despite it being released almost 11 years ago.

The fund is the first by a16z solely dedicated to games but the firm has backed successful game related projects in the past includingng virtual reality (VR) company Oculus and game developer Zynga saying the investments “cemented our belief that games require a specialized focus.”

Joining the fund were founders of game development companies and popular games such as the co-founder of Riot Games Marc Merrill, cofounders Aleks Larsen and Jeffrey Zirlin of Sky Mavis which owns the popular Axie Infinity blockchain game and Kevin Lin, founder of gaming company Metatheory which received $24 million in a funding round led by a16z.

Uniswap launches venture capital wing for Web3 investments

April 12, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The firm says it has already invested in 11 companies and Web3 protocols such as Aave, MakerDAO, LayerZero, and others, with plans to participate in the governance systems of some projects.

Popular decentralized exchange (DEX) Uniswap has announced the formation of Uniswap Labs Ventures (ULV), a venture capital fund focused on investing in Web3 companies and projects.

The firm will invest at any stage of development into various projects or technologies related to Web3, infrastructure, developer tools, and consumer-facing applications as areas of interest according to the announcement on Monday, April 11.

The firm has already invested in 11 companies and Web3 protocols, including decentralized money market Aave, the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) behind the DAI stablecoin, MakerDAO, and blockchain bridging protocol LayerZero.

In the announcement, Uniswap expressed what it looked for in other projects it was interested in funding, but did not reveal any further projects it was planning on investing in.

“We’re also focused on investing in projects that are closely aligned with our values: building for the long term, collaborating openly with communities, and putting users first.”

In a Twitter thread accompanying the announcement, Uniswap founder Hayden Adams shared that ULV plans to participate in the governance of projects it invests in, adding that it plans to participate in the governance systems of Aave, Compound Finance, Ethereum Name Service, and MakerDAO.

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As a crypto-native team, we can't wait to support other projects in the space as they launch and grow

One unique aspect of ULV that I am especially excited about is our plans to participate in the governance systems of projects we invest in
— hayden.eth (@haydenzadams) April 11, 2022

There was no mention of the amount of capital Uniswap’s venture fund had under management.

Uniswap tapped Matteo Leibowitz as Ventures Lead, heading up the effort with Uniswap COO, Mary-Catherine Lader. Leibowitz is the former Strategy Lead for Uniswap and previously was founder and editor of the now-defunct “Crypto Chat” newsletter, and research analyst at The Block.

Crypto companies are beginning to diversify through venture capital firms. In January, centralized exchange FTX launched a $2 billion fund to invest in Web3 businesses, most recently leading a $350 million funding round for the NEAR Protocol (NEAR).

Interest in crypto from venture capital firms is on the rise, with research by Cointelegraph showing a staggering 144% increase of capital inflows to the space between 2020 and 2021, with DeFi being the most favored for investment.

Uniswap did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph when asked for comment.

Crypto venture capital firms see surging assets under management

April 5, 2022 Coin Telegraph

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Filings reveal the massive amount of assets that crypto venture funds are managing, Andreessen Horowitz’s (a16z) crypto funds were also disclosed to be worth around $9 billion.

Venture capital (VC) firms focused on Web3 projects and crypto businesses are accumulating billions of dollars worth of assets under management as more capital is injected into the sector.

The assets under management figure for Web3 and crypto investment firm Paradigm has recently been revealed. Filings show that the firm has $13.2 billion in assets, a growth of 343% compared to the $2.98 billion reported in a filing in December 2020.

The filings were reviewed by business journalist Eric Newcomer. Writing for his newsletter, he looked at recent applications with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for some of the biggest venture capital firms in the Web3 and crypto sectors.

To be registered as an “investment advisor,” these firms must disclose their regulatory assets under management with the SEC.

The applications also revealed that Andreessen Horowitz's (a16z) crypto-focused funds totaled around $9 billion. Overall, its total assets under management for all investments topped $54.6 billion.

Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global also posted some big numbers, with $85.5 billion and $124.7 billion respectively, Tiger seeing a 58% increase from $79.1 billion in its filings from last year.

The findings come after a recent report that venture capital money is pouring into crypto. In 2021, $25.2 billion worth of venture capital funding went to global blockchain startups, a 713% increase from the $3.1 billion in 2020.

Expectations could be greater for 2022. In January, a16z revealed that it is gearing up to raise $4.5 billion for its latest fund focused on cryptocurrencies. Venture capital firms are also keenly looking at Solana’s NFT offerings for further opportunities.

The Solana network offers significantly lower transaction costs than Ethereum at faster speeds, and a few Solana-based gaming and NFT companies are seeing big money from VCs, according to reports.

Fractal, a Solana NFT gaming marketplace, raised $35 million on Friday, April 1st, in a round led by Paradigm with participation from a16z. Magic Eden, a popular Solana NFT market, raised $27 million in a Series A round in mid-March, also led by Paradigm, with other funds coming from Sequoia Capital.

Crypto investor Katie Haun raises $1.5 billion for Web3 venture fund

March 23, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Crypto investor Katie Haun raises .5 billion for Web3 venture fund

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The largest-ever venture fund for a solo female partner will invest in Web3 projects through two funds, a $500 million early-stage fund, and a $1 billion acceleration fund.

Katie Haun, crypto investor and board member for Coinbase and OpenSea announced that she had raised $1.5 billion for her new fund, Haun Ventures.

On Tuesday, March 22, Haun posted an article on Twitter, briefly introducing the firm and sharing that the funds would be used to invest in Web3 projects.

Introducing @HaunVentures, a firm built for the next generation of the internet. We’ve raised $1.5 billion across two funds to invest in web3. An exciting first step, but the real work begins now. https://t.co/tBeE4OEJkD
— Kathryn Haun (@katie_haun) March 22, 2022

The firm will invest through two funds, a $500 million early-stage fund, and a $1 billion acceleration fund. The two funds represent the largest debut on record for investment vehicles led by a female General Partner, according to data from PitchBook.

Haun stated that the firm will invest in “every layer of the web3 tech stack”, and seeks to back projects in both their early and growth stages, adding that the firm aims to have the projects it supports reach over 1 billion people.

The firm is also interested in shaping public opinion and government policy regarding web3 projects and crypto.

“We will partner with our portfolio to lead a global campaign for web3 that combats misperceptions, engages policymakers, highlights positive use cases, and wins the hearts and minds of leaders across all sectors.”

The Haun Ventures team consists of Chris Lehane, former Communications VP at Airbnb and Press Secretary for Vice President Al Gore, Sam Rosenblum, Former Director of Business Development at Coinbase, and Jared Cohen, Founder of Jigsaw, Google’s tech incubation company, serving as an advisor.

Haun has also brought talent with her from Andreessen Horowitz, with Tomicah Tillemann and Rachael Horwitz, both former partners, and Nick Pacilio, its former Head of Media Relations for crypto also joining her team.

Previously, Haun served as a federal prosecutor for 10 years at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) where she says she created one of the government’s first cryptocurrency task forces:

“In the course of that work, the vast potential of these technologies quickly became clear. Like any tool, they could be used for good or for bad, but we had just started to scratch the surface of the good.”

Haun left her role at the DOJ and pursued a career in crypto, joining the board of directors for Coinbase in 2017, and in June 2021 co-led with Andreessen Horowitz a $2.2 billion crypto-focused venture fund, the largest ever of its kind at the time.

In December last year, Haun announced her departure from Andreessen Horowitz to focus on her own crypto and Web3 focused fund.

Venture capital firms are increasing their focus on crypto, last year research found that VC funding reached new heights in every quarter of 2021, with $25.2 billion going to blockchain startups, a 713% increase from $3.1 billion in 2020.

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