Quick take:
- The company has already invested in over 25 startups including NFT gaming studio Mythical Games and cold wallet provider Ledger.
- The Web3 infrastructure company also plans to use Moonpay Ventures to scale companies in its portfolio.
- Abhay Mavalankar, VP of corporate development and investments at MoonPay told TechCrunch the company has more than 5 million customers.
MoonPay is doubling down on its web3 strategy after “reaching the right level of maturity to create that ecosystem and be that accelerant where we could,” Abhay Mavalankar, VP of corporate development and investments at MoonPay told TechCrunch.
The web3 infrastructure company has launched a venture arm, dubbed MoonPay Ventures, which will invest across seed and Series A rounds. The venture arm is primarily targeting to invest $100,000 to $1 million in startups developing web3 infrastructure tools, gaming and other verticals related to FinTech.
According to Mavalankar, MooPay Ventures has already invested in over 25 companies, including the UK-based payments services provider – BCB Group, crypto cold wallet company – Ledger, web3 CRM and marketing automation platform – Absolute Labs, venture capital firm – BridgeTower Capital and NFT gaming studio – Mythical Games, among others.
MoonPay is not sticking to a specific amount when it comes to backing projects, according to Mavalankar. The company is moving towards commercial ROI, with 80 to 90% portfolio allocation, as it seeks to invest off its balance sheet.
According to Mavalankar, MoonPay now boasts a valuation of $3.4 billion, which makes it one of the most valuable web3 companies. It has a customer base of 5 million and supports over 80 assets.
Since last year, the company has been creating a network of customers to bring Web3 payments to the masses. Earlier this year, MoonPay announced multiple partnerships with web3 companies including multichain NFT platform Magic Eden and LooksRare NFT marketplace. It also spread its roots to Latin America after sealing a partnership with FinTech startup Airtm.
Last year, MoonPay also announced a partnership with ZEBEDEE, the bitcoin-based payments infrastructure powering economies in the metaverse.
MoonPay places a strong emphasis on teams, communities and good user experience when deciding which projects to back.
“The focus is really on the teams” that are building the startups and creating a good user experience, Mavalankar told TechCrunch. “If you think you have a good idea, there’s probably 10+ teams working on it at any time, but we’re looking for teams who can execute those things.”
MoonPay plans to use its venture arm to scale companies in its portfolio through operations like scaling, distribution, and producing sales cycles, among others.
****
Stay up to date:
Subscribe to our newsletter using this link – we won’t spam!
