Quick take:
- Hong Kong is launching a new $100 million crypto fund to invest in early-stage startups.
- The new ProDigital Futures has already raised $30 million of the total fund.
- The fund aims to raise the remaining $70 million by the end of the year, Bloomberg reported.
A new crypto fund launched by Hong Kong-based investors is raising $100 million to invest in early-stage web3 startups. Dubbed ProDigital Futures, the fund has already raised $30 million. It is planning to raise the remaining $70 million by the end of the year.
The new fund will be led by Ben Ng, a venture partner at Asian private equity firm SAIF Partners with venture capitalist and entrepreneur Curt Shi.
Speaking about the recent $30 million close, Shi said Sunwah Kingsway Capital Holdings Ltd. and Golin International Group Ltd were the main backers, who now join Ng and Shi as founders in ProDigital Futures.
According to the report by Bloomberg, the fund will focus on Chinese tech companies looking to transition into web3. The fund has already backed six digital asset projects including Hong Kong-based metaverse firm GigaSpace and Australian digital sports club One Future Football.
Shi told Bloomberg that contrary to current market conditions, the fundraising has been seamless thus far. The recent round also attracted participation from several Hong Kong families interested in web3. China-based family offices targeting opportunities in Australia and Singapore also joined the round.
Hong Kong has been one of the leading countries in crypto adoption, hosting some of the biggest web3 companies. Animoca Brands, which claims to have invested in more than 380 web3 companies is a good example.
Earlier this week, OKX one of the leading crypto exchange companies opened a branch in Hong Kong and plans to obtain a virtual asset service provider (VASP) license. However, there are some concerns that the country is being too aggressive in its support of crypto and web3 projects.
Last year, Hong Kong saw one of its leading Universities launch a metaverse postgraduate program, becoming one of the first global institutions to do that. HashKey Capital, also based in Hong Kong, last year backed locally-based web3 payment infrastructure startup Reap in a $40 million round.
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