Key Takeaways
- • Glenn Hutchins, Silver Lake Partners cofounder, has launched North Island Ventures, a digital asset-focused venture capital fund that has raised $72 million to date.
- • The fund is run with James Hutchins, Hutchins's son and former Coatue Management research head, and Travis Scher, former Digital Currency Group investments lead.
- • The fund targets "enabling technologies" for digitally native finance, decentralized communities, user-controlled data and decentralized computer networks.
- • Current portfolio includes Dapper Labs, Nori and Axelar, according to Scher's Thursday tweet.
- • Limited partners include Paul Tudor Jones, Apollo cofounder Josh Harris, SoFi CEO Anthony Noto, former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, venture capitalist Geoff Yang and rapper LL Cool J.
Summary
Technology investor Glenn Hutchins has launched North Island Ventures, a digital asset-focused venture capital fund that has raised $72 million to date, according to Blockworks. Hutchins, cofounder of the $43 billion private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, runs the vehicle with his son James Hutchins and Travis Scher. James Hutchins previously led research at Coatue Management, and Scher previously ran investments at Digital Currency Group.
The fund says it seeks opportunities in "enabling technologies," as described in its investment thesis, that entrepreneurs can use to build new applications, experiences and innovations. The stated focus areas are digitally native finance, decentralized communities, user-controlled data and decentralized computer networks.
According to Scher's tweet on Thursday, the portfolio currently includes non-fungible token maker Dapper Labs, carbon removal marketplace Nori and cross-chain communication startup Axelar.
Investors include hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones, Apollo Group cofounder Josh Harris, venture capitalist Geoff Yang, SoFi CEO Anthony Noto, former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi and rapper LL Cool J.
Hutchins was among the earliest finance industry figures to embrace bitcoin and to endorse the potential of public blockchains, a position many others at the time sought to separate from the digital asset itself. He left Silver Lake in 2018 to make private equity-style investments through North Island, a New York-based family office he runs with James. Shortly after it led an equity fundraising round for Digital Assets Data, the data and analytics startup acquired by NYDIG the previous month.
The fund says it seeks opportunities in "enabling technologies," as described in its investment thesis, that entrepreneurs can use to build new applications, experiences and innovations. The stated focus areas are digitally native finance, decentralized communities, user-controlled data and decentralized computer networks.
According to Scher's tweet on Thursday, the portfolio currently includes non-fungible token maker Dapper Labs, carbon removal marketplace Nori and cross-chain communication startup Axelar.
Investors include hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones, Apollo Group cofounder Josh Harris, venture capitalist Geoff Yang, SoFi CEO Anthony Noto, former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi and rapper LL Cool J.
Hutchins was among the earliest finance industry figures to embrace bitcoin and to endorse the potential of public blockchains, a position many others at the time sought to separate from the digital asset itself. He left Silver Lake in 2018 to make private equity-style investments through North Island, a New York-based family office he runs with James. Shortly after it led an equity fundraising round for Digital Assets Data, the data and analytics startup acquired by NYDIG the previous month.
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