USDC Coin Issuer Circle Launches Venture Fund

The global FinTech startup and stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Financial has launched Circle Ventures, a new project designed to invest in “compelling, early-stage blockchain projects and companies.”

The company announced the launch in a news release Tuesday (Nov. 9), saying that the projects and companies in question would be those that fulfill “Circle’s mission to raise global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of financial value.”

Based in Boston, Circle provides internet-based payments and financial infrastructure for businesses, and is also the chief operator of the digital currency USDC, as well as the startup funding platform SeedInvest.

Companies in the Circle Ventures portfolio will get access to SeedInvest’s network of more than 500,000 investors, along with a wealth of experience in compliant internet capital formation, the company said.

“Since our inception, Circle has envisioned how to help scale the greater blockchain and crypto ecosystem,” said Jeremy Fox-Geen, CFO at Circle.

“Circle Ventures is another way to contribute, and we’re excited to support our industry’s innovators and entrepreneurs and identify compelling early-stage companies, technologies, projects and protocols to help realize our mission.”

Circle says Circle Venture has already deployed initial capital and is looking to entrepreneurs, innovators and developers in the blockchain community to find future investment opportunities.

Read more: Stablecoins’ Offer ‘Always-On’ Payments to Consumers Whose Needs Don’t Fit Within Banker’s Hours

In an interview with PYMNTS last week, Circle’s Dante Disparte argued stablecoins can help financially underserved communities, letting them access table payment mechanisms and banking done at the speed of the internet.

Disparte, chief strategy officer and head of global policy at Circle, said cryptocurrencies can help the millions of people worldwide who find themselves cut off from the financial system because they don’t have access to brick-and-mortar bank locations or fixed-line infrastructure.

These unbanked customers are increasingly avoiding outdated bank infrastructure that doesn’t suit their needs, while digital currencies “propose a completely new financial model for people around the world,” he said.