Galaxy Closes Venture Fund of Funds Backed by Franklin Templeton

Galaxy Digital has closed its first fund of funds since its Vision Hill Group acquisition in May. The Galaxy Vision Hill Venture Fund of Funds I closed in an oversubscribed amount of $33.75 million, the company announced Tuesday. 

The Fund was Galaxy’s first venture-focused multi-manager fund of funds vehicle. It focused specifically on providing institutional investors access to pre-vetted managers investing across digital assets, Galaxy said. 

“Our goal is to be the first call for institutions seeking exposure to crypto,” said Steve Kurz, partner and head of asset management at Galaxy Digital. “This fund represents another foundational step in building the most comprehensive, institutional fund platform in the blockchain and digital assets industry.”

The fund of funds is the second fund in Galaxy Vision Hill’s product suite within Galaxy Fund Management, Galaxy’s asset management arm, which has $1.4B in assets under management as of June.

The fund will invest in projects working on DeFi, NFTs, Web 3.0 and infrastructure and services, with a focus on pre-seed and seed funding, Galaxy said. Capital has already been deployed to Spartan Group, a boutique blockchain investment firm which recently participated in ClayStack’s seed round. 

“We’ve witnessed promising growth in crypto, evidenced by Fidelity’s recent survey indicating that more than half of institutions across Asia, Europe, and the U.S. currently invest in digital assets,” said Scott Army, CIO of Galaxy Vision Hill, referring to Fidelity’s report that 71% of institutional investors plan to gain crypto exposure. 

Galaxy’s asset management division plans to offer additional actively managed and market neutral funds, appealing to a range of investors, from high net worth to family offices, the firm said. 

“As institutional interest continues to swell, this fund unlocks access to promising projects across every investable corner of the crypto economy to bring more people into the tent,” said Army. 

The fund is the latest example of Galaxy leaning into emerging areas of crypto. Galaxy Interactive, the multi-limited partner venture fund that sits under Galaxy Digital’s asset management unit, became lead investor in virtual real estate developer Republic Realm earlier this year. 

Franklin Templeton, the mutual fund giant with more than $1.4 trillion in assets under management as of 2020, is an investor in the fund, Galaxy revealed. Other investors and capital recipients were not disclosed.