GD1 launches New Zealand’s first crypto/web3 VC fund

Global From Day 1 (GD1) has announced New Zealand’s first dedicated web3/Crypto focused venture capital fund.

The US$5 million fund, ‘GD1 Crypto Fund 1’, will be led in-house by renowned cryptocurrency and web3 expert Nawaz Ahmed as General Partner.

Focused on investing in the next generation of web3/Crypto entrepreneurs and projects around the world, the fund has already warehoused two deals that will see GD1 invest in companies that count VC giants Andreessen Horowitz, True Ventures and Kleiner Perkins as investors.

‍First close has been set for June and is expected to be over-subscribed, with early commitment from international Limited Partners whose prior investments include Coinbase, Reddit, Patreon, Yat, Anchor, and Artblocks.

GD1 Crypto Fund 1 is separate from GD1 Fund 3, which saw a successful first close at $130M and anticipates an oversubscribed final close in August.

“One of our goals at GD1 has always been to diversify into new focus areas and continuously expand our knowledge base by onboarding individuals with diverse and interesting experiences and so we’re thrilled to have Nawaz join the GD1 team to help lead our web3/Crypto strategy. Nawaz’s work gives GD1 an important vehicle to test our preliminary thesis around the concept of permissionless innovation that web3 is built on, and we’re excited to start laying the foundations of our investment strategy in this area,” explains Vignesh Kumar, Co-Managing Partner at GD1.

Currently within New Zealand, web3 and Crypto startups are largely backed by offshore investment. At the moment, local VC firms offer investors very little in the way of global web3/Crypto investment options and the deep relationship benefits that come with co-investing with some of the world’s largest players.

“In the past, the very best NZ companies in this space have easily been able to raise funds globally and haven’t needed to rely on local investment. This is a missed opportunity for NZ-based funds and one we’d like to be the first to explore,” says Nawaz.

The fund will be investing in pre-seed to series A companies across decentralised finance (DeFi), decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs), NFTs, web3 and Crypto infrastructure, as well as tangential sectors.