Venture capital firm Blockchain Capital, which created the first fund for the digital currency industry and has invested in many of the industry’s leading companies, such as Coinbase, Chain.com and Xapo, today announces the closing of its second fund of $13 million.
The oversubscribed fund, which had a target of $10 million, already made 20 investments in 2015. Since its first fund from 2013, the firm has begun to see a shift in the landscape.
“This is definitely going to be the first breakout year where you see substantial investment in blockchain technology outside of financial services, even including Bitcoin,” says Brock Pierce, cofounder and managing partner, noting that legal services and artist royalties are ripe for disruption. “And you’re going to see the use of other blockchains beyond Bitcoin, such as these permissioned ledgers that a lot of financial institutions are interested in, but also even other public blockchains like Ethereum.”
Additionally, the firm has formed an Angel List syndicate that invests alongside the fund, giving smaller accredited investors the opportunity to participate in the same deals as the hedge funds and CEOs, with investments as small as $1,000. “Traditionally it’s only the very wealthy or endowments or pension funds that are investors in venture capital funds,” says P. Bart Stephens, cofounder and managing partner of the San Francisco-based firm. “Our fund has a lot of the similar LPs you see like family offices, CEOs, entrepreneurs, etc., but then there’s also a retail piece where people can participate in a syndicate that invests alongside the fund.”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/01/27/blockchain-capital-closes-13m-second-fund-offers-1000-investments-in-syndicate/#558da847285d
