BRI Ventures, the corporate venture capital (CVC) arm of Indonesian state lender Bank BRI, has launched a blockchain-focused accelerator with domestic cryptocurrency exchange Tokocrypto amid a wave of corporate interest in the sector.
Separately, Google, the internet technology provider overseen by of US-listed conglomerate Alphabet, is reportedly creating a unit under its Labs division focusing on blockchain and other decentralised technology.
Venture capital firm Inflection has meanwhile raised $40.7m for its Mercury Fund II to invest in crypto, Web3 and blockchain technology, from limited partners including Accolade Partners, Evanston Capital, Isomer, Hutt Capital, Multiple Capital, Presight Partners, Galaxy Digital, Digital Currency Group, Rockaway, Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, Bo Shao and Erik Voorhees.
In addition to participating in traditional equity rounds, Inflection plans to buy tokens in private sales but also bet on some cryptocurrencies by buying publicly-listed crypto assets. Its investments include Unstoppable Finance, Violet, Defined and Catalog.
Sir Martin Sorrell, executive chairman of advertising agency S4 Capital, has joined Stanhope Capital and Sanja Partalo, former executive at public relations group WPP, to start a venture capital firm.
Run by Partalo as managing partner, S4S Ventures will look to raise a reported $150m to invest in early-stage startups focusing on marketing, advertising, data, creative and digital media, The Drum has reported.
Sorrell, who is investing personally rather than through S4, and Stanhope’s Daniel Pinto are set to sit on the S4S Ventures’ investment committee.
Sorrell, a keynote speaker at the GCV Symposium in London in May, said: “S4S’s aim is to be a very engaged and creative equity owner. The fund will provide investee companies with more than capital – offering differentiated value through the advantage afforded by the S4 network and our specialist knowledge with geographical, client and talent inputs.
“We are in a strong position to help portfolio companies validate ideas, launch products, accelerate growth with clients and partners and help engineer strategic partnerships, investments and exits.”
Partalo added: “We are entering ‘Web3’ – the next stage of digital evolution. It is an incredibly fertile environment for startups which are focused on transforming the marketing and advertising sector through new technologies.
“Regulatory, demographic and technological catalysts – such as a stricter privacy and regulatory environment for the tech giants, the rise of gen Z, the democratisation of AI infrastructure and the dawn of the metaverse – mean that this segment of the venture market benefits from significant tailwinds, presenting an exciting opportunity for investors.”
However, there are concerns valuations have spiralled in the sector.
Yat Siu, founder of blockchain entertainment provider Animoca Brands, told TechCrunch its holdings were worth about $16bn as of late November, not long after Animoca was itself was valued at $2.2bn in a $65m funding round that included Sequoia Capital China.
The company’s investment portfolio includes Sky Mavis, the developer of game Axie Infinity, as well as metaverse startup The Sandbox and non-fungible token marketplace OpenSea, now valued at $13.3bn.
