The Galaxy Ventures Fund I LP of billionaire Mike Novogratz is on schedule to pick up up to $ 180 million by June to support crypto and blockchain startups at an early stage, with a focus on payments and stablecoins.
According to unnamed sources cited in a Bloomberg of 17 April reportThe fund has already surpassed its initial goal of $ 150 million and is expected to conclude with between $ 175 million and $ 180 million.
The last closure is planned for the end of June. Galaxy did not make the figures public and a spokesperson refused to comment.
Galaxy Ventures Fund I invests in early phase companies that build infrastructure and financial aids for the crypto economy. The current portfolio includes synthetic dollar emittent Ethena, stablecoin-oriented Defi protocol M^zero, low-1 blockchain monad, assetisation chain chain and Renzo, which supports Ethereum re-disturbance through Eigenlaerer.
The fund had its first closure in June 2024, when Galaxy Asset Management announced that it had collected $ 113 million. At the time, the company said that the Venture Fund would focus on startups that would build crypto protocols, software and financialized applications.
“This fund will strengthen our dedication to promote innovation in the digital assets space,” said Steve Kurz, Galaxy’s Global Head of Asset Management, said Steve Kurz, in a press release of July, “enabling us to get visionary startups back and to get the future of the future of both.”
Under the leadership of general partners Will Nuelle and Mike Giampapa, the fund wants to build a portfolio of around 30 investments aimed at helping institutions and startups participating in the onchain economy.
The Venture Operations of Galaxy were previously moved under its Asset Management Division before the launch of this fund. The strong fundraising progress comes in the sector despite broader headwind, where crypto VC activity has been slow to recover.
In Q1 2025 Deals of the American Crypto company fell 22% Year-on-year to around $ 1.3 billion, according to PitchBook. Much of the capital has shifted to artificial intelligence, which has included 58% of the global VC dollars in the same period.
A report from the analysis company emphasized how careful the market has become. Despite the fact that Bitcoin hit $ 100,000 at the end of 2024, the Median Crypto -VC deals have fallen almost 90% since 2018.
At the time, Robert Le van Pitchbook said that the days of attracting capital with only a white book had long since disappeared, whereby the founders of today “needed” a considerable amount of traction or something other than a technical white book “.
Nevertheless, LE hoped for a rebound in 2025 and projected more than $ 18 billion in risk capital to flow into crypto.
