Yahoo Finance Cardano Developer IOHK Launches $20M Fund for Ecosystem Startups
Cardano developer house IOHK has set up a $20 million “cFund” alongside Los Angeles-based Wave Financial.
The fund has a broad remit to invest in startups and early-stage businesses that use Cardano and other IOHK tech initiatives – such as enterprise blockchain ATALA.
Commits will range between $250,000 and $500,000 for either equity or token stakes.
The cFund is a 50/50 venture: IOHK has already put in the “anchor” $10 million, and Wave plans to raise the other half from external investors.
Nathan Kaiser, IOHK’s general counsel, will become cFund’s chief investment officer.
An IOHK spokesperson said cFund did not overlap with EMURGO – Cardano’s commercial arm – which has also supported new ventures.
Californiaregulated Wave Financial tokenized a year's supply of Kentucky Bourbon whiskey worth $20 million earlier this year.
Both sides had been in talks for many months; the fund’s launch was delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Both Hong Kong-based IOHK and Wave declined to comment on whether the fund had already started selecting projects to invest in.
Edit (10:30 UTC): This article previously indicated that Wave Financial was based in Canada. It is, in fact, based in Los Angeles and London.
