Stronghold’s $100 million investment fund, Stronghold Capital, plans to focus on supporting overlooked and underrepresented founders and fund managers, the payments and FinTech ecosystem, Web3 and blockchain, according to a Wednesday (Feb. 16) press release.
The fund has already loaded capital into Alameda Research, through a decentralized finance (DeFi) loan through Maple Finance. Additionally, Stronghold has invested in Precursor Ventures, which is reportedly taking stakes in companies whose founders identify as women, part of the LGBTQ+ community or as people of color.
“Stronghold Capital will create opportunities to develop new products and business models that improve financial infrastructure for everyone,” Stronghold CEO Tammy Camp said in the press release. Camp will also be the fund manager for the new capital arm.
“Identifying and investing in emerging talent — especially underrepresented and undervalued founders — stands to benefit the developer community, the fintech industry and even society as a whole,” Camp added.
PYMNTS wrote that there’s been a surge in equities and more interests in markets, which have resulted in a bigger degree of investment from global venture capital reports.
Read more: 2021 Venture Capital Investments Near $270B, Setting Global Records
Venture capital (VC) firms invested hundreds of billions of dollars in 2021, with the investments going mainly to software, eCommerce, digital health and financial tech.
U.S. based companies raised $70 billion in the first half of 2021, a 65% increase from 2020, according to data from Refinitiv. Asian and European VC funds raised $16.1 billion and $8.2 billion in that same time frame, respectively — both amounts that were much higher than in 2020.
Additionally, European startups raised more capital in the first six months of 2021 than they did all of 2020.
London-based FinTechs landed a record amount of VC investment in the first half of 2021, and FinTechs in the U.K. raised $5.3 billion in VC investments between January and June of 2021.
We’re always on the lookout for opportunities to partner with innovators and disruptors.
Learn More