Binance Labs, the VC and incubation arm of Binance, announced recently that it has closed a new $500M investment fund from global institutional investors such as DST Global Partners and Breyer Capital.
Other private equity funds, family offices, and corporations also subscribed to the fund as limited partners.
How will the funding be used?
Binance Labs will use the funds to invest in projects that can extend the use cases of cryptocurrencies and drive Web3 and blockchain technologies adoption.
Changpeng Zhao ‘CZ’, Founder and CEO of Binance, says, “In a Web3 environment, the connection between values, people, and economies is essential, and if these three elements come together to build an ecosystem, that will accelerate the mass adoption of the blockchain technology and crypto. The goal of the newly closed investment fund is to discover and support projects and founders with the potential to build and to lead Web3 across DeFi, NFTs, gaming, Metaverse, social, and more.”
Empowers viable blockchain companies
Founded by Changpeng Zhao, and Christy Choi, Binance Labs identifies, invests, and empowers viable blockchain entrepreneurs, startups, and communities, providing financing to industry projects that help grow the larger blockchain ecosystem.
To date, the company has invested in and incubated more than 100 projects from over 25 countries, including 1inch, Audius, Axie Infinity, Dune Analytics, Elrond, Injective, Polygon, Optimism, The Sandbox, and STEPN.
Binance Labs plans to make $500M investments across three different stages:
Incubation: With incubation, Binance Labs aims to connect projects with Binance’s network of resources, experts, and mentors to help them drive successful product development and growth.
Early-stage venture: The investments include token and equity investments across all sectors of cryptocurrency and Web3, including infrastructure, DeFi, NFTs, gaming, Metaverse, social, and crypto adoption platforms.
Late-stage growth: The investments target more mature companies looking to scale or bridge into the Web3 ecosystem with the Binance ecosystem as a solid strategic partner.
Recent investments
The company also announced on Tuesday that it has invested in ApolloX, a decentralised exchange. Binance Lab participated along with industry players such as Kronos Research, Lingfeng Capital, SafePal, Token Pocket, 3Commas, and LUX Capital.
Yesterday, the company invested in PancakeSwap, a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on the BNB Chain. Binance invested in PancakeSwap to further develop PancakeSwap’s technology, marketing, and community support as well as drive Web 3-based services.
