Summary:
- CZ’s company plans to support builders through three key stages.
- The phases include the incubation period, early-stage growth, and late-stage growth.
- Binance hopes the fund will incentivize more innovation within the crypto space.
- It’s the first fund from the company to feature external capital.
- The exchange previously launched a €100 million fund to support the Web3 ecosystem in France.
Binance Labs announced a massive $500 million fund geared towards supporting cryptocurrency and blockchain startups as the company looks to drive growth in the burgeoning web3 ecosystem.
According to the official statement, the raise is earmarked to bolster firms building tools and solutions designed to facilitate broader cryptocurrency adoption. Also, CZ’s company plans to deploy cash injections in three phases during a startup’s journey – initial incubation, early-stage growth, and late-stage expansion.
The fund is the first external-backed capital package since Binance Labs debuted in 2018, as confirmed by The Block’s Yogita Khatri. A plethora of institutions provided liquidity for the huge fund including backers from Breyer Capital, DST Global Partners, and a private equity fund that has chosen to stay anonymous.
Speaking on the development, company chief Changpeng Zhao highlighted the fund’s importance for the crypto economy.
In a web3 environment, the connection between values, people, and economies is essential, and if these three elements come together to build an ecosystem, that will accelerate the mass adoption of blockchain technology and crypto.
The goal of the newly closed investment fund is to discover and support projects and founders with the potential to build and to lead web3 across DeFi, NFTs, gaming, metaverse, social and more.
Shortly before bagging a crypto license in France, CZ’s exchange also announced a fund dedicated to the growing French web3 ecosystem. The fund was worth around $105 million.
Binance Labs’ Support For Web3
Since launching in 2018, the venture capital arm of the world’s largest exchange has invested in over 80 web3 initiatives and blockchain startups using internal cash. Notably, the company invested around $3 million in Terra’s original layer zero protocol.
Binance Labs has also provided capital for 1inch, CertiK, and Sky Mavis.