Ledger and VC firm Cathay Innovation launch $110 million crypto fund

Crypto hardware wallet maker Ledger and global venture capital firm Cathay Innovation have teamed up to launch a €100 million ($110 million) fund to invest in web3 startups.

The fund, dubbed Ledger Cathay Capital, is backed by the French public investment bank Bpifrance. Some other investors have also supported the fund, Denis Barrier, co-founder of Cathay Innovation, told The Block, while declining to name them for "compliance and privacy reasons."

Ledger Cathay Capital will invest in early-stage startups across areas such as decentralized finance, security, infrastructure and digital ownership technologies. The fund is still new and hasn't made any investments yet, said Barrier.

When asked why it's launching the fund now amid challenging market conditions, Barrier said Ledger Cathay Capital sees web3 as a "multi-decade investment opportunity" and that the space is still evolving.

"We have no plans to slow down or reduce our investment activities and believe that the current environment is a real opportunity for us to start the fund and actively invest in the world's crypto startups," said Barrier.

Ledger chairman and CEO Pascal Gauthier concurred, saying that the fund will actively invest in startups building the decentralized future for the next billion users.

Ledger and Cathay Innovation are not new to each other. The VC firm has invested in Ledger's three funding rounds, including its latest $380 million Series C, according to data from Dealroom.

For the new fund, Ledger and Cathay Innovation will combine their expertise to source and assess investment opportunities, but Cathay Innovation will manage it, said Gauthier.

Ledger had been separately investing in crypto startups, but now its investments will also be managed by Ledger Cathay Capital.

The fund will back both equity and token deals, with average check sizes in the range of $550,000 to $4.3 million, said Barrier.

As for total investments, the fund targets creating 20-25 portfolio companies and expects to fully deploy in the next two to three years, said Barrier.