Crypto VC Firm Aims $ 75 Million For Second Seed Fund

[ad_1]

Crypto venture capital firm New Form Capital is raising its second venture capital fund, targeting a $ 75 million raise for a strategy that invests in early stage blockchain companies through a Wall Street lens.

Founder and General Partner Alex Marinier is currently finalizing the marketing strategy for the new fund, with the idea being to actively raise capital after Labor Day. The plan is to have a first close in the fourth quarter with about half of the fundraising in the door – then accumulate the rest in the first and second quarters of 2022.

Marinier is also in the market to hire New Form’s first New York-based COO as the business grows. Marinier, a Blackstone and DCM Ventures veteran, said he taps heavily on his cultivated network at both companies and the venture capital circuit more broadly in terms of finding new investment.

“Half the battle of early stage investing is creating a network from which to source,” Marinier said. “In adventure, everything is timing. If you are a little early or a little late, you can ruin a fund this way.

Marinier has already raised partnership seed capital for New Form from two of the biggest names in the business: James Chiu of Vatic Labs and John Burbank, founder of San Francisco-based global macroeconomics firm Passport Capital.

The head of New Form said he was exploiting these relationships – including sponsors of quantification stores and fund of funds – to find investment opportunities for the fund, an approach he intends to pursue. with the second vehicle.

“You have other funds out there that have a very strong technical track record,” he said. “For us, this is more of a business development type added value, where we will connect you to our exclusive LP record set. “

New Form counts Steve Lau, Managing Member of quantification firm WorldQuant Ventures, among its LPs. Lau told Crypto Investor that he was happy with what he had seen of the fledgling company so far, noting that he liked to bet on the early founders of VC.

“I was impressed with Alex and really enjoyed being in the flow of blockchain and fintech information,” Lau said. “For me and for him, it’s about developing relationships. When he starts to raise his second fund, I will also try to bring in other records.

The first fund has hit a number of promising crypto investments, including Structure, with which New Form co-invested alongside Polychain Capital in August 2020. Structure is a tokenized securities trading platform that originated from Jump Trading .

Other notable investments include challenge-fi credit underwriter Spectral.Finance, which Galaxy Digital also supported in November 2020. In total, Fund 1 has now invested in 19 companies out of a total of 20, half of this brand. being reserved for monitoring. capital of existing LPs.

Marinier cut his teeth in blockchain investing at DCM Ventures.

After starting at DCM in 2016, he began leading the company’s initial blockchain investments “just as crypto started to enter public consciousness,” he said. He worked for DCM until 2019, when he left to found New Form. At DCM, he led start-up investments in companies like Blockfolio and Chia.

Crypto venture capital firm New Form Capital is raising its second venture capital fund, targeting a $ 75 million raise for a strategy that invests in early stage blockchain companies through a Wall Street lens. Subscribe for the full article

Access our exclusive contentLearn more

Already registered? Log in

[ad_2]