CEO of Sui developer Mysten Labs to launch 13 billion yen Web3 fund

About 13 billion yen Web3 fund formation

Mysten Labs CEO and co-founder Evan Cheng has raised about ¥13 billion ($100 million) to launch a new Web3 venture capital fund, it was learned today. rice field.

Mysten Labs is a company leading the development of the high-speed L1 blockchain “Sui”. According to four anonymous sources who spoke to overseas media The Block, the new fund will not be limited to the Sui ecosystem, but will broadly encompass Web3 as a whole.

Calls for investors to form the fund are in the early stages, and Cheng is currently negotiating with limited partner (LP) and general partner (GP) candidates. He is looking to secure commitments of more than $100 million from the LP, according to people familiar with the funding.

In parallel with fund management, Mr. Cheng plans to promote the project as CEO of Mysten Labs and co-founder of Sui.

Led by Mysten Labs, the Sui blockchain adopts the new programming language “Move” developed by Meta (formerly Facebook). It is characterized by its high processing power, which is said to reach 120,000 transactions per second (TPS).

Mysten Labs, which attracted attention because all five of its founders were involved in the former Meta cryptocurrency project, completed a series B round of 43 billion yen ($300 million) in September 2022. At the time, Mysten Labs was valued at over ¥280 billion ($2 billion).

Cheng served as R&D director for Meta’s cryptocurrency wallet Novi until September 2022, and previously worked at Apple for 10 years. Cheng has also made angel investments in several startups, according to Crunchbase, a venture information database. He has been eyeing the opportunity to create a Web3 fund for some time, one of the sources said.

Changes in the VC investment environment

2022 has had a major impact on the VC investment environment due to the string of bankruptcies of major cryptocurrency companies such as Three Arrows Capital (3AC) and FTX.

Total investment was 4.98 trillion yen ($37.7 billion), up 19% from 2021, but most of the investment took place in the first half of the year. In the fourth quarter, the number of investment contracts and the investment amount were the lowest in the last two years.

connection:Total VC investment in cryptocurrency-related companies surpasses 2021

However, Pantera Capital, a major US cryptocurrency fund, issued a letter to investors in February stating that the cryptocurrency market has bottomed out and entered the next bull market cycle. seems to be on the rise.

connection:Pantera Capital: Crypto Markets May Have Bottomed and Entered Next Cycle

In January, Asia-based cryptocurrency-focused asset management firm HashKey Capital announced that it had completed a round of approximately ¥65 billion ($500 million) in a new fund, FinTech Investment Fund III. . It is said that it has gained support from customers such as sovereign wealth funds, corporations and family offices.

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian’s VC, Seven Seven Six, plans to raise a total of 100 billion yen ($776 million) in two new funds, The Information reported on February 8. . Seven Seven Six has invested in Web3-related (virtual currency, NFT projects).

Sui Blockchain just completed its second stage testnet yesterday. On January 20th, a testnet was launched for the purpose of confirming the staking function of the cryptocurrency SUI, which is scheduled to be released in the future. Available from self-managed wallets, ordinary investors could easily participate in the security of the Sui network through delegation to validators.

connection:Sui Blockchain To Experience Staking Feature On Next Testnet

Sui blockchain-based wallet “Ethos Wallet” completed a seed round led by gumi’s cryptocurrency VC “gumi Cryptos Capital” in January, raising 540 million yen ($4.2 million).

connection:Gummi and other Sui blockchain-based wallets lead 540 million yen fundraising

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