What is Variant Fund?
What is Variant Fund?
Variant raises $450 million
JULY 29TH, 2022 6:30 MONTREAL, CANADA.
Hey Guys,
Crypto winter? No problem, the power of NFTs is all-knowing, I mean omniscient, I mean damn cute. What do I mean exactly?
Are you on a Mission to use NFTs for Web3 empowerment?
Li Jin is pretty awesome. Even Means of Creations say so.
2021 heights to 2022 floors, not a problem for Web3 glamorous celebrities. In FinTech they call 2022 “The Great Layoffs”, in Web3, just another “stepping stone”.
So let’s get into it.
Fresh of the press from a former member of my personal overlords (a16z funds Substack).
Mayson Nystrom of Variant Talks about #crypto, #bitcoin, #ethereum, #investing, and #blockchain. These young folk clearly know what they are talking about.
Backing the User Owned Web
A $150 million seed fund will focus on Web3 and a separate $300 million opportunities fund will double down on portfolio projects.
Variant, a crypto investment firm founded by Andreessen Horowitz veterans, has raised $450 million for a new umbrella fund split across a $150 million seed purse for Web3 projects and a $300 million opportunities vehicle that will “double-down on projects with demonstrated traction in our portfolio," according to a website post published Thursday.
I too want to learn about the NFT raining money effect.
I’m on Substack, but I might have to leave soon for the NFT Stack.
What an impressive infographic, might be worth a lot. Soon.
NFT innovation doesn’t sleep during a mild recession ya’ll.
Jesse Walden knows the score of NFTs. (Video)
Web3 is crypto.
Li is known for the Passion Economy.
Variant is best known as the Ownership Economy.
Genius next level guys!
In truth, FOMO and hype never really sleeps, when huge VCs can emerge to own a piece of the decentralized future.
Each “crypto winter” is different from the last, but every winter—or what non-crypto people would call a bear market—has something in common: It gives rise to a new surge of innovation. - Fortune (copywriter)
1,000 True Fans? Try 100
Podcast: How the Passion Economy Is Redefining Work
Groomed by a16z, where does this kidzone get their funding?
Early stage startups in Web3? Wow.
NFTs are about uploading files to the blockchain, owning assets in new ways. Verifiably yours without any dependent on a third party.
But who owns Variant?
The Garden of Magic Eden
Creators can make more money since they have proof of ownership without any third party platform.
So let’s get into the Variant PR:
Variant was founded on a simple idea: the networks that define the next generation of the internet will turn users into owners. - Lin Jin
Open edition drop-culture (collectibles, series of edition works)
Hyper exclusive collectibles (e.g. generative artwork)
Decentralized networks owned by users, like Uniswap, are outpacing their centralized competitors.
Variant, an early stage crypto-focused fund, sees great opportunity in the current state of things, its co-founders Jesse Walden and Li Jin have an ideology that’s very similar to the Godfather of Web3 Chris Dixon.
a16z happen to have a monopoly on early leading NFT platforms.
New models for token distribution are enabling startups to turn their users into owners who can influence the direction of projects. Communities around the world are raising funds on-chain to purchase and even govern other things.
Chris Dixon has created an entire (Tokenomics) ideology around how NFTs are the next stage in creator monetization where Ad-platforms are the worst. The best is tiered pricing, according to these NFT experts. So Open-editions are like tiered pricing in the NFT marketplace of 2021.
You can Mint an NFT and take it even to another NFT platform. It’s incredible!
Investment theses for Variant Fund III include financial empowerment through decentralized finance (DeFi), blockchain computing, Web3 consumer applications and new forms of decentralized ownership. The firm has doubled the size of its staff to 15 to support the new funds.
DeFi
Blockchain computing
Web consumer Apps
New forms of decentralized ownership (NFTs)
From digital fashion to digital art, there’s always new industries that opens up new monetization opportunities with huge early traction. It’s not just collectibles, there’s a ton of programmable artwork.
This is only a small fraction of what’s happening in the space.
Who has Variant Invested In so Far?
The firm has previously invested in privacy-focused smart contract platform Aztec Network, Ethereum-based DeFi protocol Euler Finance, Polygon and Uniswap, to name a few.
Aztec Network
Euler Finance
Polygon
Uniswap
Others include Mirror, Foundation and Magic Eden.
2021 Success
NFTs have enabled creators to earn from their content to the tune of $3.9 billion last year, without relying on advertising or the altruism of fans.
NFTs are so much more than Patronage.
People want to profit from their support of Creators.
NFTs are just the tip of the iceberg according to Walden.
The DeFi revolution has empowered a new generation of owners to take control of their assets and access capital and liquidity, just as simplified end-user experiences are lowering the barrier of entry for using new and complex financial products.
Go to 23:30 of this video to hear what Walden says about Mirro.xyz.
Li Jin gets a bit emotional about this sometimes:
Variant Fund III follows a $110 million second fund last October, itself coming about a year after the $22.5 million debut fund.
“We feel like in the next three to five years, we’re going to see a wave of really high quality projects that then drive us towards mainstream [crypto] adoption,” Jin said.
This Moment in Crypto is Unique
“Variant was designed for this moment in crypto. And we have stayed small for a reason: because it enables us to work intimately with our portfolio and guide founders through the most important questions they face early on in their journey," Variant partners Li Jin, Spencer Noon and Jesse Walden wrote in the post.
Walden admits that the size of Variant’s latest fund is “relatively small compared to other funds,” like Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) or Paradigm. But it’s “for a reason.”
If I was a16z I’d spin out a fund with trained young people so startups would trust them better. Wait a second, that this seems to be exactly what this is. Censor me crypto! Finally, I’d just like to say:
I’m so over-joyed to witness this moment in Variant Fund III’s birth.
I’m so glad you have joined me in how we embrace this together.
Thanks for joining me crypto brothers, till we meet again, on the blockchain!