Crypto Venture Firm Variant Raises $450m For Two New Funds

Venture firm Variant has raised $450 million in two new funds focused on the Web3 and decentralized finance sectors, reports The Block.

The company has raised $300 million for an “opportunity fund” and $150 million to invest in industry start-ups.

Variant closed its first fund in 2020. In 2021, together with Atelier Ventures, the company launched a second $110 million fund.

The Variant portfolio includes many projects in the cryptocurrency industry, including the Magic Eden NFT marketplace and the Uniswap decentralized exchange.

The new funds focus on four groups of investment areas:

• decentralized finance;
• infrastructure blockchain startups;
• consumer Web3 applications;
• projects experimenting with new forms of ownership.

Despite a difficult period for the industry, Variant co-founder Jess Walden says his company believes in the Web3 sector. He explained that the technology behind it would grow and develop. 

“Historically, technology doesn’t get worse or disappear—it gets better, it becomes more widespread. In Web3, this is happening at an exponential rate because all software is open source and tons of talent is pouring into the field. The technology works, and I think that means it will only spread,” Walden said.