Web3 infrastructure company MoonPay has launched an investment arm that will focus on early-stage startups in the Web3, gaming and adjacent fintech categories, TechCrunch has exclusively learned.
The investment branch, called MoonPay Ventureswill primarily invest between $100,000 and $1 million, targeting seed and Series A rounds. It has already invested in over 25 companies, including BCB Group, Ledger, BRUT, BeatClub, Absolute Labs, Create/OS , BridgeTower Capital and Mythical Games, according to Abhay Mavalankar, vice president of corporate development and investments at MoonPay.
There is no specific amount of funds allocated by MoonPay, and the team will invest off its balance sheet with a “defined angle” towards commercial ROI, he added.
MoonPay is building payment infrastructure for crypto and has around 500 industry partners ranging from crypto wallets to layer 1 and 2 blockchains, Mavalankar said. The company is valued at $3.4 billion, has more than 5 million customers and supports more than 80 assets, according to its website.
“When it comes to Web3 and supporting exceptional founders, this is a logical extension of that,” Mavalankar said. “We felt that as a company we had reached the right level of maturity to create this ecosystem and be that accelerator where we could.”
When it comes to investing in ideas, “the focus is really on the teams” who build the startups and create a good user experience, Mavalankar said. “If you think you have a good idea, there are probably more than 10 teams working on it at any given time, but we’re looking for teams that can implement these things.”
Beyond providing capital, MoonPay Ventures hopes to help accelerate the adoption of its portfolio startups through operations such as scaling, distribution, compressing sales cycles, etc., a noted Mavalankar. About 80 to 90 percent of its investments will be tied to a business relationship, he added.
“You put all these things together and it’s not just capital for capital’s sake,” Mavalankar said. “We thought we could add tangible value to the ecosystem, and if you can couple that with commercial ROI, there’s nothing like it.”