Silver Lake Founder Glenn Hutchins Launches $72M Digital Asset Fund

Technology investor Glenn Hutchins has launched a digital asset-focused venture capital fund with his partners James Hutchins (who is also his son) and Travis Scher, called North Island Ventures. The fund, which has raised $72 million to date, seeks opportunities to […]

share
  • The firm will invest in “enabling technologies” and currently counts Dapper Labs, Nori and Axelar in its portfolio
  • Investors in the fund include Paul Tudor Jones, Apollo cofounder Josh Harris, Rapper LL Cool J, and others

Technology investor Glenn Hutchins has launched a digital asset-focused venture capital fund with his partners James Hutchins (who is also his son) and Travis Scher, called North Island Ventures.

The fund, which has raised $72 million to date, seeks opportunities to invest in “enabling technologies,” according to the thesis on its website, that entrepreneurs can use to create entirely new kinds of applications, experiences and innovations in digitally native finance, decentralized communities, user-controlled data and decentralized computer networks. 

Its portfolio currently includes non-fungible token (NFT) maker Dapper Labs, carbon removal marketplace Nori and cross-chain communication startup Axelar, Scher said in a tweet Thursday.

Hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones, Apollo Group cofounder Josh Harris, venture capitalist Geoff Yang, SoFi CEO Anthony Noto, former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi and rapper LL Cool J are also investors in the fund.

Glenn Hutchins, cofounder of the $43 billion private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, was one of the earliest finance industry heavy-hitters to embrace bitcoin and more specifically, endorse the idea and potential of public blockchains (which at the time many tried to separate from the digital asset itself). 

He left Silver Lake in 2018 to make private equity-style investments through North Island, the New York-based family office he runs with James. Shortly after it led an equity fundraising round for Digital Assets Data, the data and analytics startup acquired last month by NYDIG.

James Hutchins previously led research at Coatue Management; Scher ran investments at Digital Currency Group.

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates.jpg

Research

Figure, founded by former SoFi CEO Mike Cagney, has emerged as a leader in onchain RWAs, with ~$17.5B publicly tokenized. The platform’s ecosystem volume is growing ~40% YoY as it expands beyond HELOCs into student loans, DSCR loans, unsecured loans, bankruptcy claims, and more. Operationally, Figure cuts average loan production cost by ~93% and compresses median funding time from ~42 days to ~10, creating a durable speed-and-cost advantage.

article-image

Former White House crypto official Bo Hines is expected to be the CEO of the new project

article-image

In bonds, stablecoins and billionaires, a reminder of what makes crypto special

article-image

21Shares exec says CPI and PPI data supports a Fed rate cut, with market leaning toward a 25bps decrease

article-image

The Ethereum co-founder suggested LINEA holders would be eligible for other airdrops in cryptic tweet

article-image

The layer-2’s biggest release yet brings benefits — but a post-upgrade outage caused a chain reorg

article-image

Crypto is shifting into risk-on mode — pump.fun dominates meme activity, while Lido leans on treasury maneuvers