Proof of Capital, a venture capital (VC) fund backed by Taiwanese tech giant HTC, has launched a US$50 million blockchain fund.

As reported by Deal Street Asia, other Limited Partners (LPs) in the fund include YouTube co-founder Steve Chen, Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin, and Ripple’s former chief risk officer, Greg Kidd.

The fund is led by a team of three, comprising Phil Chen, creator of HTC’s Vive VR headset and Exodus smartphone and former executive at Horizons Ventures; Edith Yeung, former head for 500 Startups; and Chris McCann, former head of community at Greylock Partners. Advisors include zCash’s Howard Wu, Dominic Williams of Dfinity, Dawn Song from Oasis, and Kas Vardhanabhuti.    

Proof of Capital targets early blockchain startups in fintech, infrastructure and consumer layers of the blockchain ecosystem, with deployment from the fund already including a deal in Ubanx, a Latin American fintech startup.   

The fund joins a considerable number of VCs that are fuelling optimism in the blockchain market. Others include Singapore-based Quantum Energy Asset Management and Pundi X, a blockchain developer which announced a US$100 million blockchain fund in November 2018. In the same year, Golden Gate Ventures-backed LuneX Ventures launched a US$10 million blockchain fund.

Additionally, the VCs have recently been joined by more prominently players, indicating serious interest in the sector that is only growing.

Korea Investment Partners (KIP) last year made an undisclosed investment in TEMCO, a blockchain-based supply platform aiming to reinvent the supply chain process by using Bitcoin smart contracts blockchain technology.

Temasek-backed Vertex Ventures meanwhile invested in global crypto exchange Binance, as it prepared to expand operations into Singapore.

Source: dealstreetasia.com