Trivium Group, LLC, a Chicago-based venture fund of funds which officially opened its Fund 1 in mid-March 2021, held its pre-emptive closing on 30 June, 2021.
The decision was made in order to avoid diluting the fund’s value for existing investors on the heels of the success of its portfolio company BlockFi.
As Kurt Johnson, Managing Partner of the Trivium Group, explained, “venture capital usually has a fairly long time horizon for return. But with BlockFi’s historic rise in price coming so quickly into our planned fundraising, we felt we needed to close the fund as soon as possible to protect the interests of our existing investors.” BlockFi, an independent lender and institutionally backed marketplace for buying, selling, and trading cryptocurrency, closed on two up rounds in 2021, raising Trivium’s investment from USD9.51 to USD75.74 a share. The company has indicated a desire to go public in the next 18-24 months at an even higher price per share.
The Trivium Group currently deploys capital to three managers: 25 per cent to 11.2 Ventures, a venture builder studio creating AI-based technology opportunities; 50 per cent to Purple Arch Ventures, which invests in early to mid-stage high growth deals; and 25 per cent to Alumni Ventures Syndicate opportunities, which accesses primarily late-stage pre-IPO companies.
Gary Scheier, co-Managing Partner at the Trivium Group, says: “the BlockFi event is not surprising given the strong track record of our manager, Purple Arch Ventures, who made the original investment into BlockFi in early 2018, and has carefully tracked their performance. We hope and expect to see similar events occurring from the 70-plus remaining investments in Trivium.”
The Group expects to open Trivium Fund 2 in early September 2021.
