(Bloomberg) — Superscrypt, a blockchain venture capital firm backed by Temasek Holdings Pte, plans to raise up to $100 million for its second investment fund, according to people familiar with the matter.
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Singapore’s state-owned investment company Temasek was selected as lead investor in the new fund alongside New York-based fintech company Republic, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the fundraising effort is private.
Together, Temasek and Republic would act as general partners in the new vehicle. The process is ongoing and the final amount could change, the sources said.
Temasek wrote down a $275 million investment in Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraudulent digital asset exchange FTX in 2022. Top Temasek officials have had their salaries cut following the debacle. The company’s chief investment officer said the following year that it was not actively seeking to support crypto exchanges amid regulatory uncertainty.
The demise of FTX ended a bruising year for crypto investors marked by multiple bankruptcies, triggering a prolonged recession for the sector. But venture capital inflows into digital asset companies have gradually picked up this year, alongside a broader crypto rally led by Bitcoin.
A spokesperson for Temasek declined to comment on the increase, as did a representative for Republic. Superscrypt did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Bloomberg News.
Superscrypt was launched by Temasek, according to its LinkedIn page. The company focuses on early-stage investments in areas such as protocols that make blockchains “more usable,” as well as applications that build on web3 technology. The term web3 refers to a vision of the Internet supported by blockchains.
Superscrypt has been investing since 2022, according to The Block Pro records, and has bet on startups including Space and Time, a Microsoft-backed software developer, and blockchain operator Aptos Labs. It has invested in more than 20 projects in total, according to its website.
Republic, which itself has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from venture capital firms, runs a platform that arranges investments ranging from startup equity to crypto on behalf of individual investors. In May 2022, Axios announced that the company planned to raise up to $700 million for a pair of crypto-heavy investment funds.
