VanEck shifts focus to fintech and AI startups: ‘Future of finance’

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  • VanEck launched a $30M fund to drive early-stage fintech, digital assets, and AI innovation.
  • 2024 AI venture capital hits record $53B, underscoring investor confidence and sector growth.

As a seasoned researcher with over two decades of experience under my belt, I find myself continually amazed by the relentless pace of technological innovation and venture capital investment. The recent announcement by VanEck to launch a $30 million fund for early-stage fintech, digital assets, and AI startups is yet another testament to this trend.

VanEck has made a significant move into venture capital, announcing a new $30 million fund aimed at early-stage fintech, digital assets, and AI-focused startups.

According to the latest news, it appears that Wyatt Lonergan and Juan Lopez, who previously held executive positions at Circle Ventures, are now taking on managerial roles at VanEck Ventures. They bring along their valuable leadership skills to this new position.

This initiative would help VanEck expand beyond traditional asset management.

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This venture aims to support around 25-30 ventures during their early stages, with potential investments ranging from half a million dollars to one million dollars for each business.

VanEck’s investment details

Four ventures have already been funded, placing VanEck Ventures in a strong position to back initiatives that offer both monetary and strategic opportunities.

Remarking on this, Jan van Eck, CEO of VanEck said, 

Since initiating a groundbreaking method for gold investments back in 1968 and anticipating the revolutionary impact of Bitcoin by 2017, our investment strategy has consistently centered around a forward-looking perspective that values long-term transformative opportunities.

He continued,

This investment fund carries our vision into the realm of emerging ventures, particularly in the financial technology sector. We’re eager to assist pioneering entrepreneurs who we think are shaping the future of finance.

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This statement sheds light on how VanEck’s new venture fund complements its crypto ETFs and private funds, aiming to drive innovation in blockchain, stablecoin, and DeFi solutions.

Furthermore, it strives to boost transaction effectiveness as well, by promoting initiatives at their early stages that involve the integration of stablecoins and AI-based financial technology solutions.

Growth and influence of AI

That being said, despite a VC funding slowdown, AI startups raised $11.8 billion last quarter, the sixth-highest ever, after a 13% year-over-year decline.

This tendency shows a continued belief in the expanding capabilities of artificial intelligence, despite the fact that venture capital investment is encountering wider difficulties.

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Remarking on the same, Stocklytics analyst Neil Roarty stated,

The new investment amounting to approximately $11.8 billion is nearly similar to the quarterly figures observed from 2023 to 2024, except for the all-time high of $29.6 billion raised in Q2 of 2024.

Furthermore, it was found through Crunchbase data that there was a significant rise in venture capital investments in AI-related businesses during 2024, amounting to approximately $53 billion. This figure represented a 35% jump over the investment totals from 2023 and broke the previous record of $49.4 billion set in 2021.

Crunchbase added,

“Much of the high funding total for AI-related companies comes from a few ultra-large rounds.”

What’s more to it?

Indeed, as anticipated, worldwide investments in artificial intelligence exceeded an impressive $241 billion. Notably, U.S. businesses, predominantly based in California, were the frontrunners, accounting for a significant 65% or $155 billion of this total investment.

Moreover, Asian businesses received approximately $53 billion, making Europe a close second with $30.2 billion invested in their startups within the AI sector.

This distribution highlights how significant the global influence of AI is, with each region offering its unique contribution to the swift advancement pathway of this sector.

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2024-10-10 15:04