Grapevine

VanEck Launches $30M Early-Stage Fund For Digital Assets, AI Startups

Investment firm VanEck launched a $30 million early-stage fund focused on fintech, digital assets and AI startups.

What Happened: The firm announced on Wednesday that the fund, VanEck Ventures, will target pre-seed and seed-stage companies.

Jan van Eck, CEO of VanEck and a keynote speaker at Benzinga’s Future of Digital Assets event on Nov. 19, emphasized the company’s history of recognizing transformative opportunities, stating, “From pioneering an approach to gold investing in 1968 to recognizing the disruptive potential of Bitcoin in 2017, embracing a long-term view on transformative opportunities has always been part of our investment philosophy.”

VanEck Ventures will be led by Wyatt Lonergan and Juan Lopez, both experienced investors previously heading Circle Ventures, the venture arm of USDC/USD issuer Circle.

Their expertise, combined with VanEck’s reputation in asset management, positions the fund as a valuable partner for innovative startups.

The fund’s investment strategy focuses on category-defining founders leveraging emerging technologies like blockchain and large language models. Key investment themes include tokenized assets, internet-native financial marketplaces and next-generation payment systems built on stablecoins and tokenized capital markets.

Wyatt Lonergan, General Partner at VanEck Ventures, highlighted three core inflection points shaping their investment thesis: “stablecoins emerging as an open-source banking layer, the commoditization of blockspace and AI breakthroughs.” He added that the convergence of these factors is creating “unprecedented opportunities for globally connected, user-centric financial experiences.”

The fund plans to make 25 to 35 investments, with check sizes ranging from $500,000 to $1 million. It has already made four undisclosed investments. Juan Lopez, also a general partner, noted the exciting timing for blockchain utility, saying, “As several on-chain utilities, focused on programmability and compliance, come to market with growing regulatory clarity, it’s never been a more exciting time to build.”

What's Next: VanEck CEO Jan Van Eck will speak at the upcoming Benzinga Future of Digital Assets event on Nov. 19.