Tykhe Block Ventures, a US-based venture capital firm, recently announced the first close of its Blockchain Growth Fund, primarily backed by ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWIs) and family offices in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The firm has also committed to investing around $10 million in blockchain and Web3 startups in the Middle East, while also establishing their Dubai office with plans to launch a $100 million fund later this year.
Prashant Malik, the founder of Tykhe Block Ventures, is a well-known name in the investment circles, being an early investor in multiple unicorns such as Urbanclap, Shadowfax, and OfBusiness. Malik’s passion for blockchain began in 2016, likening its peer-to-peer and voting mechanism nature to Apache Cassandra, a distributed database he created and later incorporated as an Apache project. This experience led to the inception of Tykhe Block Ventures and a pilot $30 million Blockchain Growth Fund in 2021.
The Blockchain Growth Fund, backed by $5 million committed by Malik and other sponsors, is focused on providing more than just venture capital; they also offer relationship capital and help in building scalable and secure architecture for distributed ledger technology (DLT). This expertise comes from the Blockchain Growth Fund team’s cumulative experience of more than 30 years and 80+ companies invested within the blockchain industry.
Despite recent price corrections in the cryptocurrency market and the collapse of companies like Celsius and FTX, Tykhe sees these events as a healthy correction, emphasizing that their investment strategy focuses on decentralized networks that have fared well amidst global downturns. Their high-double digit returns in the past year further solidify this belief.
The potential impact on the blockchain and Web3 landscape is significant as the global Web3 market size reached $3.2 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow to $81.5 billion by 2030, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 43.7%. Particularly in the Middle East, countries like Dubai have established themselves as hubs for blockchain and cryptocurrency startups and exchanges.
At the same time, one should approach such numbers and projections with a touch of skepticism, as market fluctuations and potential regulatory challenges could impact growth. Nevertheless, Tykhe Block Ventures’ intentions to support the blockchain and Web3 industry and foster innovative startups could act as a catalyst for change and growth in the technology space, similar to how social media disrupted the status quo years ago.
Source: CryptoPotato
