Crypto investor Katie Haun has broken the record for the largest debut venture fund to be raised by a woman. An initial fund of $1.5 billion was raised for her firm Haun Ventures, which is more than any solo woman has raised for a project of this magnitude, according to Pitchbook.
The capital firm is geared towards supporting crypto start-ups and working to build the third generation of the internet, also called Web3. In a statement published by Haun on the Haun Ventures platform on Tuesday, March 22, she delves into the potential of the internet’s third generation and why supporting it is essential.
‘We believe the next generation of the internet will naturally produce a new generation of investors. Beyond providing capital, we will contribute to Web3 in two specific ways to start and plan to layer in other capabilities as we learn and grow’.
Haun has previously worked as a federal prosecutor and general partner at Andreessen Horowitz. As co-chair of the firm, she handled its three major crypto funds and eventually sought to create her own. Haun Ventures was then unveiled along with its massive acquired funding of $1.5 billion. The record broke the previous one made by Mary Meeker with $1.3 billion for an initial venture capital fund.
Divided into two parts, the $1.5 billion funding will be split into $500 million and $1 billion. The former will be used as an early-stage fund while the latter will serve as an acceleration fund for future investments.
In an interview with CNBC’s Crypto World published last March 22, Haun discussed the triumph and how the achievement made her feel. ‘It feels, honestly, like a lot of pressure. But I think that motivates everyone on the team. Web3 is the new era of the internet and it deserves a new era of investors’.
According to reports published by Bloomberg last March 23, Haun’s triumph comes at a challenging time for the crypto industry. This is because of the increasing interest rates and inflation that have caused prices to tumble. However, the funding and support for ventures such as Haun’s remain to be present.
To commemorate the achievement, Haun published a tweet on her Twitter account last March 23, sharing the link for her blog post introducing Haun Ventures. She describes the experience as ‘An exciting first step, but the real work begins now’.
It is evident that firms like Haun Ventures are gearing towards involvement and preparation for the next generation of the internet. Comparatively, other firms such as Electric Capital and Bain Capital Ventures have also sealed funding of $1 billion and $560 million respectively for their own crypto-related investments.
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