Interplay Jumps on the Web3 Train with New $10M Blockchain Fund

Leading New York-based venture capital firm Interplay has jumped on the Web3 bandwagon with a new fund dedicated to blockchain investments.
Image source: CrunchBase

Quick take:

  • Interplay has entered the Web3 race with a $10 million blockchain fund.
  • The New York-based venture capital firm said the fund will invest in early-stage startups, tokens, special situations and other strategies within web3.
  • Interplay Blockchain will operate as a standalone fund separate from the venture capital arm.

Interplay is foraying into the Web3 space with a new blockchain fund. The New York-based venture capital firm is raising $10 million to invest in early-stage startups, tokens, special situations and other strategies within web3, according to Tech Crunch.

Interplay founder and managing partner, Mark Peter Davis said that Interplay Blockchain will run as a standalone fund separate from the firm’s venture capital arm, which “houses two early-stage funds, a foundry that helps build companies from scratch, an incubator to support existing companies and a family office.” 

The company’s main venture capital arms previously backed Coinbase Ventures in a Series A round, while it also incubated a crypto-based insurance product. However, the current blockchain fund will market Interplay’s inaugural foray into web3 with a dedicated fund.

Speaking about his firm’s plans for the Web3 space, Davis said: “We’ve just kept looking at random opportunities that don’t quite fit squarely in our other programs that we’re excited about, and now we have a program to engage them.”

Interplay has tapped Brett Palatiello, who led systematic macro and equities research at Ridgewood Analytica. He will be joined by Interplay partner Kevin Tung and Davis to co-lead Interplay Blockchain Fund I in the new initiatives.

Palatiello is specifically excited by the opportunities in blockchain interoperability and identity products as subsegments of the Web3 space.

“If we look at the internet as it is now, think of it as walking through a house with some doors locked and you get to open them. I envision the metaverse as being a fluid situation — imagine swimming around the ocean where you carry your identity or information all with you in a seamless way,” Palatiello said.

“So essentially, it’s just one broad open ecosystem where people can move around and build things on top of the other, so I think identity is one of those things that needs to happen,” he added.

Although the metaverse is yet to be objectively defined, it is essentially described as an immersive virtual space of interconnected 3D worlds. And as Palatiello points out, the immersive space also allows creators to build 3D structures that can be used for various experiential activities, like gaming.

The industry has attracted significant funding since the turn of the year, with a recent DappRadar report estimating total fundraisings to exceed $10 billion this year.

Interplay Blockchain Fund I, like many funds looking to invest in Web3 products is banking on the extensive experience of its leadership team to deliver success. Palatiello cites the team’s interdisciplinary background as a strength.

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