Korean ‘Jedi Master’ planning to launch second VC blockchain fund
Simon Seojoon Kim, South Korea’s leading blockchain evangelist, has shared plans for embarking on a massive blockchain fundraise as a follow up to his hugely successful first venture.
Kim’s first blockchain fund had netted $120 million from investors’ pool in December 2020. Currently, he has announced that he is raising $173 million, although he did not state anything specific.
Senior partner at Boston Consulting Group in Hong Kong, Sean Park, dubbed Kim as “the Jedi Master of cryptocurrency”. Park co-founded the blockchain and crypto firm, Hashed, which invests in crypto business startups, enabling them to grow by providing partnerships, staff and marketing.
Hashed, based in Seoul, is primarily a gateway for Western investors into Asian markets. It has also invested in a number of blockchain projects like Klaytn and Kakao. Its investments generally range from around $1 million to $10 million per company.
$17 billion of venture capital cash was utilized into blockchain projects between January and June 2021, and Park from Hashed said he is looking to tap into more similar ideas during the second half of this year.
Kim’s fortunes increased as an early investor in Ethereum. Being one of the first to invest in it in 2015, he explained how the funding would benefit investors looking to maximize their profit. He assured that investors could also learn about the market from the projects.
Kim’s funding has also attracted big names such as Naver, which is Korea’s third-largest firm by market value. Naver has invested $12 million in the first Hashed blockchain fund.
Kim said that the blockchain market is in its nascent stage, which is why it is an upside for potential investors. He also disclosed some in the portfolio, including Dfinity, Ethereum side-chain platform Skale, Korean blockchain network Icon, Internet Computer and several decentralized finance projects, such as lending platform Kyber Network, Synthetix, MakerDAO, and decentralized exchange dYdX and stablecoin platform Terra.
2021 has been the year of a record amount of venture capital funding for crypto and blockchain. The first half saw double the investment than all previous years combined.
