TL;DR Breakdown
- Cake DeFi launches a new corporate venture arm CDV for $100M.
- CDV intends to invest in Web3, gaming, and fintech startups.
Cake DeFi debuted a new corporate venture arm with $100 million in fresh capital on Wednesday. The fund will help boost the development of Web3, gaming, and financial companies (fintech firms).
Cake DeFi is a Singapore-based crypto fintech firm that provides the foundation for financial technology (Fintech) innovation. It has more than $1 billion in managed customer assets. According to a press release, the platform invested its own money to establish the new Cake DeFi Ventures (CDV) investment arm.
Cake DeFi Ventures (CDV)
According to the Singapore-based fintech firm Cake DeFi Ventures will seek out global investment opportunities in businesses all around the world. CDV is looking for Web3, gaming, and fintech startups.
Moreover, it focuses on the metaverse, NFT, blockchain, and esports industries. The fintech platform aims to provide synergistic value to Cake DeFi’s existing services. Cake DeFi co-founders Julian Hosp (CEO) and U-Zyn Chua (CTO) will head up the investment fund. A newly appointed investment partner, Nicholas Khoo, offers professional fund guidance.
Nicholas Khoo has over 20 years of expertise in the tech sector, having worked in startups and multinationals such as Visa. Nicholas has been an investor for more than ten years, advising on both successful and fast-growing technology startups and serving on the investment committees of investors like the Global Fund.
By the end of 2021, the number of users on Cake DeFi increased by ten times from its startup year. The company claims that much of this boost occurred in the fourth quarter when confirmed users almost doubled.
The firm has already invested in The Edge of Company, a media, events, and technology business. However, both companies did not disclose the terms of the partnership. Furthermore, the fintech platform provides a one-stop decentralized finance platform where users can purchase, lend, and stake cryptocurrencies.
The increasing crypto venture firms
The $100 million CDV funding is the latest example of the hot and bubbly crypto and Web3 project funding market. In recent months, a number of large firms have announced substantial investments. These companies include Paradigm’s $2.5 billion Fund, FTX’s $2 billion venture fund, and Pantera Capital’s $1 billion Fund.
Dr. Julian Hosp stated about the new fund: “By launching Cake DeFi Ventures, we want to bring cryptocurrency and blockchain capabilities to the world. Cake DeFi is one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing fintech platforms. The projects that we invest in can expect to receive strong support scaling globally.”
At the time of CDV’s inception, it was in early to late-stage talks with a number of global firms, including companies from Southeast Asia, the United States, and Europe. However, Cake DeFi announced its first significant investment with The Edge of Company, which is a technology, media, and events startup that focuses on developing the NFT and Web3 community and ecosystem.
The fund will provide money, guidance, and connections to investment businesses, but Hosp denied that the fund would take a hands-off approach in terms of day-to-day management or board seats.
