Korean crypto ‘Jedi Master’ plans to launch second VC blockchain fund

Published at: Sept. 8, 2021

One of South Korea’s leading blockchain evangelists is embarking on another huge blockchain fundraise following the success of his first.

Simon Seojoon Kim is planning to raise $173 million for a second blockchain fund following the success of the initial one, which netted $120 million from investors in December 2020. Specifics regarding the new fund and its potential investors are thin on the ground, however.

Kim, dubbed “the Jedi Master of cryptocurrency” by Sean Park, a senior partner at Hong Kong-based Boston Consulting Group, co-founded the blockchain and crypto venture capital firm Hashed in 2018. The firm invests in crypto startups to enable them to grow through staff expansion, partnerships and marketing.

It has attracted big-name financiers such as Naver, South Korea’s third-largest company by market value, which invested $12 million in the first Hashed blockchain fund.

The Seoul-based company serves as a gateway to Asian markets for investors in the West. It has invested in a number of notable companies and blockchain projects such as Klaytn, the public blockchain of South Korean mobile giant Kakao. Hashed investments usually range from around $1 million to $10 million per company.

The portfolio is extensive and also includes Dfinity, the creator of the Internet Computer, Ethereum side-chain platform Skale, Korean blockchain network Icon, and several decentralized finance projects, such as lending platform MakerDAO, Synthetix, Kyber Network, decentralized exchange dYdX and stablecoin platform Terra.

Kim made his fortunes by being an early investor in Ethereum just after the network launched in 2015. Regarding industry investment, he stated, “Our investors want to maximize their profit, but they also want to learn about the market through us,” according to Bloomberg.

He added that the blockchain technology market is still nascent, which is a huge upside for investors.

There has been a record amount of venture capital funds investing in crypto and blockchain this year. The first half of 2021 saw more than double the amount invested than all previous years combined.

Around $17 billion of venture capital cash was channeled into blockchain projects between January and June, and Hashed is looking to tap into more of it during the second half of the year.