Ledger and Cathay Innovation launch €100 million web3 fund

Often cited as the benchmark when it comes to hardware crypto wallets, Paris-based Ledger has announced a joint €100 million venture with Cathay Innovation that will invest in Seed to Series A startups working in the DeFi, security, infrastructure, digital ownership technologies, protocols “and more” sectors. The fund is targeting 20-25 investments with the typical ticket size is expected to range between $550,000 and $4.3 million.

Looking to capitalise on and support an ecosystem that Ledger sees as the transition from a web that’s been “read-write” to a “read-write-own” model, pointing specifically to the adoption of crypto technologies over the past 7 years akin to a similar pattern of internet adoption over the 1990’s, the combined force of wants to bet big on reports that predict between 1 and 1.6 billion users of crypto by 2027.

Backed by, naturally, Bpifrance, and a number of undisclosed investors,  the new fund will back early-stage projects covering crypto, DeFi, blockchains, NFTs, DAOs, and the tokenisation of everything.

“A decentralised future, with countless digital assets and services, hinges on the ability to ensure security and trust,” said Pascal Gauthier, CEO and Chairman of Ledger. “At Ledger, we’ve built our company around providing protection and verifiable trust across people, hardware and software – becoming a world leader in securing, buying and exchanging crypto. Now, with Ledger Cathay Capital, we want to help crypto and Web3 builders by granting access to our unique digital security ecosystem, and support building on our security technology platform, thanks to the technical know-how from over 700 blockchain experts and distribution channels to scale the innovative, secure, decentralized services of tomorrow.” 

Cooperative efforts between Ledger and Cathay Innovation are nothing new, as the latter has invested in three of Ledgers' funding rounds, including its latest $380 million Series C round.  According to Cathay, Ledger will contribute expertise and industry knowledge when sourcing and assessing dealflows, but that Cathay will manage the fund.