China's ClearVue targets $100m for blockchain fund
ClearVue Partners, a China-focused investor in consumer and technology, has reached a first close of USD 50m on a fund dedicated to digital assets related to decentralised finance (defi) services and bridging web2 and web3 operating models.
The overall target is USD 100m, according to a source close to the situation. The fund, known as CVP NoLimit Holdings, is the product of a partnership with NoLimit Holdings (NLH), a blockchain investment firm established in April by Gin Chao and Malcolm Shu.
Chao was formerly strategy officer at Binance.com, operator of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. He also ran venture unit Binance Labs and token launch platform Binance Launchpad, and he led the acquisition of crypto industry information aggregator CoinMarketCap.
The principals of ClearVue and NLH first met in at a poker game in 2010 that featured several crypto industry pioneers. The NoLimit moniker is a reference to that game.
CVP NoLimit will participate in seed, strategic, and private rounds for token projects launched by experienced founding teams. The team has already warehoused six investments and plans to back more than 50 projects globally over the next 24 months.
“Gin has an incredible track record investing in web3 and we see that the metaverse is where the internet was around 1998. We are excited about our partnership with NLH to accelerate adoption of this mega trend for our international partners and portfolio companies,” said Harry Hui, founding partner of ClearVue, in a statement.
Hui established the firm with William Chen in 2012 and it now has more than USD 1bn in assets under management across three funds.
Numerous traditional GPs are moving into the space by establishing dedicated crypto and blockchain technology-related funds or strategies. Australia’s AirTree Ventures and Southeast Asia’s Openspace Ventures have raised or are raising crypto vehicles that will operate independently of core venture funds. New Zealand’s GD1 is looking to do the same, while Taiwan’s AppWorks has a web3 sleeve within its main fund.
Investment activity across Asia in crypto, blockchain, and web3 roughly tracks fluctuations in bitcoin, with peaks in 2018 and 2021, according to AVCJ Research. However, the quantum of capital deployed has grown exponentially, from USD 1bn in 2018 to USD 3.7bn in 2021. Despite the recent volatility, investment in 2022 to date is just over USD 3bn.
“We have seen this cycle several times before, and the best performing investments were made in the depths of prolonged crypto winters, most recently from mid-2018 to late-2019,” said Chao.
“The current cycle is even more exciting with the entrance of large corporations, the accelerating inflow of experienced talent, and the continuous BUIDLing [building new crypto products rather than just investing and holding coins for profit] by second and third-generation founding teams.”
More on Greater China
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.