FTX establishes $2bn venture fund to invest in “world’s best” crypto teams

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX has today unveiled FTX Ventures – a $2 billion venture capital fund focused on supporting the “world’s best” teams building within the digital asset ecosystem.

The fund, which is said to be one of the industry’s largest, will deploy a broad investment approach that includes industries such as social, gaming, fintech, software, and healthcare – with its core mission stated as the advancement of “global blockchain and web3 adoption.”

FTX Ventures‘ will also place its focus on investments from an array of multi-stage companies and projects whilst providing flexible funding options and strategic support from FTX and its global partner network.

The funding for FTX Ventures’ came from FTX and its enigmatic founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, who said he and the exchange were “excited to find the brightest minds and disruptive innovation in tech”.

According to the Wall Street Journal, investment amounts remain flexible for would-be investors – ranging from lows of $100,000 to highs of “hundreds of millions of dollars”.

To start with, the fund will launch with an initial team of eight, including General Partner Ramnik Arora, Advisor Armani Ferrante and newcomer Amy Wu, who joined FTX from Lightspeed Venture Partners earlier this month.

Wu, who previously led crypto investments at the $10B+ multi-stage venture fund, said FTX Ventures “could deploy all of the funds by next year”, with the funds being allocated dependent on the “opportunities FTX sees in the market”.

Wu was also instrumental in Lightspeed’s initial investment in FTX in October 2021, which saw the exchange raise $420m and post a valuation of $25bn.

“I am thrilled to be joining FTX to work alongside Sam and some of the smartest people disrupting the financial services industry,” she said.

“With FTX Ventures, we are looking to support entrepreneurs building generational businesses. We’re particularly excited about web3 gaming and its ability to bring mainstream audiences into the ecosystem.”