Fasanara Capital raises $350 million for its third venture capital fund

Fasanara Capital, a London-based asset manager and investor, is raising $350 million for a new venture capital fund to support crypto and fintech startups.

About $100 million of that amount has already been raised, Francesco Filia, CEO of Fasanara Capital, told The Block in an interview.

This is the first time Fasanara will invest in crypto startups, Filia said, adding that the company’s previous two venture capital funds, worth a combined $550 million, focused solely on fintech startups. .

“Chaos brings opportunities”

Fasanara is undeterred by the current weakness in crypto markets, which has seen bitcoin lose around a third of its value so far this year.

“Chaos offers opportunities for long-term oriented investors,” Filia said. “The current difficult landscape expands the opportunities available to us.”

Fasanara is interested in various crypto startups, but with a particular focus on those building infrastructure and trading platforms, as the company is also a liquidity provider to the crypto market.

The company is reportedly considering both in-equity and tokenized transactions. The average check size for his investments is said to be between $500,000 and $5 million, Filia said.

Regarding a rough mix of crypto and fintech focus, Filia said the fund will invest around 60% of total capital in fintech startups and the rest in crypto and web3 businesses.

Filia said it has already invested in two web3 startups: Twig, a London-based fintech that plans to develop blockchain-based payment infrastructure, and Scuti, a gaming store seeking to issue a gaming reward token.

Founded in 2011, Fasanara claims to have over $3.5 billion in assets under management and employs over 150 people.

Fasanara’s rise comes as venture capital investments in the crypto space have skyrocketed over the past few months. Last month saw the highest number of funding deals in crypto history. Several mega new venture capital funds have also been launched in recent months, including by Sequoia Capital, Bain Capital and Dragonfly Capital.

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