Greenfield One, a fledgling Berlin-based cryptocurrency firm, has secured its first major lenders for a second fund, including an investment from Bertelsmann, a privately held German multinational.
A fund designed for investors who are not yet exposed to cryptocurrencies
Bertelsmann is a media company with a broad portfolio, including the largest book publisher in the English-speaking world, Penguin Random House, as well as music publisher BMG.
The Berlin-based fund could attract older companies because it is regulated by the German regulator, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). “The BaFin ensures regulatory clarity and a safe haven for an institutional product like ours,” said Sebastian Blum, one of Greenfield's founders, adding: “We have deliberately decided to structure all of our funds as an onshore product to provide a high level of clarity and comfort for investors who are not yet exposed to cryptocurrencies. This has caused additional controls and complexity in the formation of funds on our part, but we are convinced that this can prove useful in the long term. "
Greenfield One invests in the basic infrastructure of Web 3.0
Founded in 2018 by Blum and Jascha Samadi, Greenfield has already made many blockchain investments under the umbrella of its first fund, including NEAR, Spacemesh, Arweave and Dapper Labs. The firm has several blockchain smart contracts in its portfolio that could run decentralized finance applications, if existing projects begin migrating beyond Ethereum.
"There seems to be a trend emerging where existing Ethereum applications are shifting to other ecosystems, which is something we are excited about even as we remain long-term bullish on Ethereum," Blum wrote.
Previously, the company released a report on the state of governance in blockchain projects of all kinds. "For now, Greenfield One invests in the fundamentals of Web 3.0: the fund focuses on cryptographic networks and developer teams that use blockchain-based technology to create the infrastructure for Web 3.0 as a core asset layer on the Internet" according to a circular issued by the company.
The new fund has also already closed investments by a major European family office known as Lennertz & Co., which had already invested in the previous fund. Greenfield declined to disclose the size of his first fund. Lennertz CEO Philipp Lennertz said in a press release: “Crypto and Blockchain have tremendous potential and have long since left their childhood behind. Now is the time to create the basic architecture for Web 3.0 ”.
