Borderless Capital Launches $500M Algorand-focused Fund

Product will participate in DeFi liquidity mining, yield farming, lending, borrowing and trading.

article-image

Source: Shutterstock

share

key takeaways

  • The layer-1 protocol is “the best blockchain technology and software available in the market,” Borderless Capital’s founding managing partner says
  • The Miami-based venture capital firm’s first Alogorand-focused fund initially raised $200 million and invested in more than100 companies

Venture capital firm Borderless Capital has launched a $500 million fund investing in digital assets powering the next generation of decentralized applications on top of Algorand (ALGO). 

Founded by cryptographer Silvio Micali, Algorand developed a blockchain infrastructure that offers the interoperability and capacity to handle high volumes of transactions necessary for financial institutions and governments to transition to decentralized finance, the firm said in its announcement. 

Along with other layer-1 protocols, such as Solana, Cardano and Avalanche, Algorand has emerged as a competitor to Ethereum this year amid higher demand for transaction prices and throughput that are lower and faster than what the Ethereum network provides.  

“Algorand is the best blockchain technology and software available in the market and the momentum in the ecosystem validates that this is just the beginning,” David Garcia, Borderless Capital’s founding managing partner, told Blockworks in an email. “There is a huge room to grow from here.”

The Borderless ALGO Fund II comes after the Miami-based company started its first Alogorand-focused fund in June 2019. The Borderless ALGO Fund I initially raised $200 million and invested in more than 100 companies, including BlockDaemon, Six Clovers and Osprey Funds.

“Besides investing in Algorand-native projects and apps, we will bootstrap what we call the GDP of the Algorand Borderless economy by participating in DeFi liquidity mining, yield farming, lending, borrowing and trading,” Garcia added. 

The firm will be announcing specific investments of the new fund in the coming months, a spokesperson said. 

“The Borderless Capital team has been a longtime supporter of many entrepreneurs, founders, and developers who have built the foundational Algorand ecosystem we have today,” Algorand CEO Steve Kokinos said in a statement. “As accelerated adoption of Algorand’s technology continues, we are excited to see [this] Borderless fund coming to fruition to support the next wave of DeFi on Algorand.”

Algorand Virtual Machine was released in June in an effort to improve smart contract development and allow developers to create powerful digital apps while making blockchain application development more accessible.

SkyBridge Capital and NAX revealed a partnership in September to offer decentralized applications and institutional investment opportunities as part of an initiative using Algorand. 

SkyBridge CEO Anthony Scaramucci said in a statement at the time that he was impressed by Algorand’s technology and that his firm planned to bring Algorand to the forefront of regulated products, digital securities, currencies and payments. 

Garcia said Borderless would look to offer funds for specific initiatives within the Algorand ecosystem in the future. 
The firm last week announced the closing of a $10 million fund that will invest in the ecosystem surrounding PlanetWatch, the world’s first decentralized indoor and outdoor air quality monitoring network built on Algorand.


Get the day’s top crypto news and insights delivered to your inbox every evening. Subscribe to Blockworks’ free newsletter now.


Tags

Upcoming Events

HYATT REGENCY SALT LAKE CITY

TUES, OCT. 8, 2024

Guided by the expertise of Blockworks Research Analysts team, this one day event will feature senior leaders, entrepreneurs, and developers from across the crypto industry. Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in an immersive experience to explore the latest trends, […]

Salt Lake City, UT

WED - FRI, OCTOBER 9 - 11, 2024

Pack your bags, anon — we’re heading west! Join us in the beautiful Salt Lake City for the third installment of Permissionless. Come for the alpha, stay for the fresh air. Permissionless III promises unforgettable panels, killer networking opportunities, and mountains […]

recent research

hivemapper.jpeg

Research

We believe crypto market participants overlook Hivemapper’s fundamental potential due to a poor understanding of both the niche map data market and Hivemapper’s positioning relative to incumbents. Hivemapper’s token model catalyzes both a cost and product advantage via unmatched map freshness and near real-time accuracy, which is its wedge into a market characterized by stale data and high data collection costs. Its current and potential future product suite may represent one of the strongest possibilities for PMF in crypto today.

article-image

Exploit shows centralization can sometimes be an asset

article-image

The Fidelity Ethereum Fund, like other proposed ETH ETFs, seeks to stake a portion of its assets, according to the firm’s Wednesday registration statement

article-image

The DAO first voted on enabling SAFE transfers over a year ago

article-image

The final Bitcoin halving, where the mining reward becomes smaller than one satoshi, is expected to occur in 2140

article-image

The Department of Justice and Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced back-to-back lawsuits against KuCoin Tuesday

article-image

Judge Failla found that Coinbase didn’t operate as an unregistered broker in offering its wallet service