Reddit co-founder’s VC raises $500 million, targets investment in crypto

• The internet entrepreneur told Wall Street Journal that a significant fraction of the funds would be injected into crypto
• Elsewhere, Bahamas-headquartered FTX exchange yesterday revealed it had closed a $400 million in a Series C funding round

776 Management, the venture capital firm founded by Reddit co-creator Alexis Ohanian, has secured a $500 million raise across two of its funds. Wall Street Journal shared earlier today that the firm plans to allocate a sizeable portion of the funds into cryptocurrencies. In addition to blockchain ventures, the firms will also allot the funds to projects in other niches like climate and space exploration.

“I’m proud to announce @sevensevensix has raised $500M for our two newest funds, bringing our total AUM to $750M. We’re just over 1 year old + I’m grateful some of the best institutional investors in the world have chosen us,” Ohanian posted on Twitter.

The funding comes at a time many others completed last month by firms in the blockchain space. This indicates a growing interest in the sector by venture capital firms despite the general mood being bearish.

Though 776 Management was formed barely two years ago, it already has a number of big names it has invested in, including rewards application Lolli, Sky Mavis (the blockchain gaming company behind Axie Infinity), and crypto portfolio manager CoinTracker. 

Ohanian jokingly expressed his disappointment in not hitting the $776 million figure in the first full year of operation. The number is symbolic as it represents the year when the first Olympic Games were held.

FTX exchange closes $400 million raise to hit $32 billion valuation

On Monday, cryptocurrency derivatives exchange FTX revealed that it had netted $400 million from its Series C funding round. The funds acquired, however, fall short of the amount that Bankman-Fried projected the firms would raise, according to a CoinDesk report.

The exchange revealed that it would focus on expansion plans and entry into new markets by acquiring the required licenses.

“FTX will look to continue interacting with regulators to facilitate access to digital assets in a safe and compliant manner. We look forward to working alongside our investors to achieve our mission and continue our tremendous growth throughout 2022 and beyond.” Bankman-Fried said in regards to the raise.

FTX’s raise comes four months since it completed a $42o million Series B round that pushed its market value to $25 billion. It also follows the first external raise for its US affiliate exchange FTX.US that brought in $400 million. The latter’s valuation currently stands at $8 billion.

The FTX fundraising had participation from all investors that took part in the US affiliate’s raise. These include Temasek, Tiger Global, Multicoin Capital and SoftBank Holding.

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