NEAR backs Caerus Ventures for $100 million fund to focus on Web3 startups

Swiss non-profit that supports the governance and development of the NEAR protocol, NEAR Foundation has announced a strategic partnership with Caerus Ventures to launch a $100 million venture capital fund and venture lab.

NEAR will cornerstone the VC fund, which will have an initial closing of $50 million and a target of $100 million for seed to series A investments. 

The fund will leverage the opportunities of Web3 as it reimagines culture and entertainment, from how it is financed, produced and distributed to how it’s consumed, owned and monetised. 

With 18 million accounts created, and 550,000 members, the NEAR community is a globally distributed home to innovators, developers and contributors supporting the protocol's platform, ecosystem and applications.

Marieke Flament, CEO of the NEAR Foundation, said: “Our cultural passions for live sport, film or music have historically been leveraged to on-ramp billions of consumers to new technologies. The creators, talent and franchises with reach and influence spearheaded that growth and will now drive the adoption of blockchain at scale. But this time, they and their fans will have greater access to the value created.”

Founded by IMG/Endeavor executive Nathan Pillai, Caerus will back and build projects that place creators, talent, IP owners and the highly engaged communities they serve, at the heart of these new enterprises.

The company’s first investment will be the Venture Lab which will work exclusively with creators, talent and franchise owners to build the next generation of platforms and applications that unlock value from their IP, reach and influence. It will attract Web3’s leading engineers, developers and venture builders who want to create category-defining products around iconic talent and IP. The Lab will offer cross-functional support to portfolio projects and will be supported by advisory partners who will be announced by the end of this year.

Pillai added: “We’re yet to imagine the plethora of use cases for how Web3 technologies will change how culture is experienced, entertainment is consumed, and value is distributed. And that was the genesis of Caerus: to be a catalyst for innovation that unleashes a new generation of platforms, applications and services across sport, music, film, TV, fashion, art and gaming which offer greater equity for talent and consumers alike.”