VanEck, one of the issuers of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) in the United States, has a new initiative to support early-stage cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence projects.

VanEck has launched VanEck Ventures, a $30 million fund investing in fintech, crypto and AI startups in pre-seed and seed stages, the company announced on Oct. 9.

Source: VanEck

Among VanEck Ventures’ core investment themes, the fund listed tokenized assets, internet native financial marketplaces and payments based on stablecoins and tokenized capital markets.

Circle Ventures’ Wyatt Lonergan and Juan Lopez to lead VanEck’s $30 million fund

VanEck’s new fund is run by Wyatt Lonergan, the former head of Circle Ventures, and Juan Lopez, who headed Circle Ventures’ corporate development and ventures.

Launched in late 2021, Circle Ventures is a venture fund of Circle Internet Financial, which operates USD Coin ( USDC ), the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization.

At Circle Ventures, Lonergan and Lopez invested more than $50 million in early-stage companies ranging from infrastructure to consumer applications.

Circle Ventures’ Wyatt Lonergan (left) and Juan Lopez Source: VanEck

According to Lonergan, VanEck Ventures’ focus on stablecoin projects is relevant because stablecoins will emerge as an “open-source banking layer.”

“Over the past few years, we’ve seen stablecoins enable seamless, large-scale value storage and transfer along with Linux-like composability,” Lopez said, adding:

“As several on-chain utilities, focused on programmability and compliance, come to market with growing regulatory clarity, it’s never been a more exciting time to build.”

VanEck Ventures expects to make 25–35 investments

In the announcement, VanEck Ventures said it expects to make 25–35 investments, with capital ranging from $500,000 to $1 million.

“The fund has already made four investments yet to be announced,” the company noted.

According to a report by The Information, about two-thirds of VanEck Ventures’ capital came from external investors, with the rest from VanEck internally. The fund will reportedly make equity investments and also take stakes in companies in exchange for tokens linked to projects.

Related: PayPal, Ernst & Young settle first corporate payment via PYUSD stablecoin

“From pioneering an approach to gold investing in 1968 to recognizing the disruptive potential of Bitcoin in 2017, embracing a long-term view on transformative opportunities has always been part of our investment philosophy,” VanEck CEO Jan van Eck said. He added:

“This fund extends that vision into the early-stage venture space. We look forward to supporting founders of what we believe are some of the most disruptive companies in fintech — those building the future of finance.”

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