Pangea Blockchain Fund has held the close of its seed round and debuted its inaugural International fund focussed on transformative blockchain solutions.
The firm secured USD22 million and expects fundraising to be capped at USD200 million. Pangea Blockchain Fund’s Swiss-based investment adviser, Blockchain Investment Advisory Sagl, is led by a team of established asset management and blockchain industry veterans including founders James Duplessie and William Duplessie. The US-based sub-adviser, Blockchain Investment Advisory LLC, is managed by Jason Bonayer, Stephen Duplessie, Philip Plough and Jeffrey Engel. Together, the teams will position Pangea Blockchain Fund at the forefront of tech discoveries reshaping the world’s economic and social infrastructure.
The firm’s debut fund attracted a distinguished group of investors and limited partners including Copernicus Asset Management SA (Copernicus), a Lugano-based financial services group, and Bitcoin.com owner Roger Ver. Copernicus is also acting as investment manager for the Fund.
“Blockchain technology has the potential to change the nature of the systems that lie beneath the things we do every day and could be the greatest driver of value creation in our lifetime,” says Blockchain Investment Advisory Sagl co-founder James Duplessie. “Our team’s investment thesis is based on the profoundly important reality that blockchain will fundamentally alter the way society collaborates, transacts, governs and brings new concepts to life. We have chosen the name ‘Pangea’ for our business- because it means ‘whole earth’ – highlighting our intention to use blockchain as a means to provide unifying and transformative change to the world.”
Pangea Blockchain Fund’s Investment Manager and Advisers comprise a pragmatic mix of “new world” technologists and “old world” Wall Street veterans, solely focussed on the commercial and industrial applications for the underlying blockchain technology, with no plans to invest in directional cryptocurrency. Unparalleled management teams, a global network of mentors with deep market and technical expertise and world-renowned strategic partners offer founders the intellectual and financial capital they need to build today’s market-defining technology companies.
“Blockchain represents a new paradigm for the way information is shared, and the use cases for a transparent, verifiable register of data transactions are endless,” says Maggie Rokkum-Testi, Chief Investment Officer of Copernicus. “This technology will touch and transform every industry, from energy and public utilities to retail and healthcare. Due to its unique investment strategy and diverse understanding of both traditional and non-traditional markets, the Advisory teams are uniquely equipped to understand and capitalise on an opportunity of this magnitude. We’re excited to be early partners and to play an active role in fostering the individuals and companies designing these new economic, social and political systems.”
In addition to Pangea Blockchain Fund, Blockchain Investment Advisory Sagl will soon debut its Swiss-based incubator, Ticino Labs. Innovations hosted and curated within this entity will provide access to unique investment opportunities unavailable to other market participants.