VanEck Led $50M Raise for Cadenza Ventures’ Crypto Fund

The fund will use the capital to invest in crypto platforms and blockchain technologies internationally.

article-image

Blockworks exclusive Art by Axel Rangel

share

key takeaways

  • Additional investors include Solana and Dapper Labs as well as individuals from Coinbase, Kraken Ventures and more
  • To date, the venture capital firm has made approximately 36 investments in digital finance across companies that focus on custody, exchanges, asset management, payments, data and analytics and DeFi

Cadenza Ventures raised $50 million for its crypto venture fund, the company announced Monday. 

The early stage fund is led by Cadenza Ventures’ Co-Founders and Managing Partners Kumar Dandapani and Max Shapiro and anchored by VanEck. 

Others in the round include: Solana, Dapper Labs, WorldQuant Ventures, Mirana, TRON, Lennertz, Babel Finance, Social Leverage as well as individual investors from Coinbase, Kraken Ventures, Angellist and Norwest Venture Partners.

“We’re very excited to continue investing in entrepreneurs and developers that are working tirelessly to revolutionize financial services around the world,” Shapiro said in a statement. 

The fund will use the capital to invest in crypto platforms and blockchain technologies internationally, the firm said. 

The firm has already made its first investments in companies, including Rain, Vauld, Lemon Cash, Tulip Protocol and ZEBEDEE.

To date, the venture capital firm has made approximately 36 investments in digital finance across companies that focus on custody, exchanges, asset management, payments, data and analytics and DeFi, according to its website.

For reference, BlockFi and Casa are two of the 36 companies that it has invested in.


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


Tags

Upcoming Events

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

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

Bluefin possibly stands at an inflection point. The token is near an all-time low yet the protocol’s spot volume market share and derivatives exchange usage have been increasing month over month since its November launch. Given its current market position and the upcoming upgrades (for both Bluefin and SUI), there may be upside potential before the increased supply growth in December. However, strong opposition from existing competitors (like Cetus and Suilend), as well as new entrants (like Aftermath), pose key challenges to Bluefin’s medium-term success.

article-image

Top Committee Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren in her opening statement accused Atkins of “helping billionaire CEOs like Sam Bankman-Fried”

article-image

Introducing garbled circuits for enhanced privacy and regulatory compliance

article-image

Ross Ulbricht was a freedom maximalist building freedom tech, powered by Bitcoin

article-image

Solana validators can reap benefits including payments, votes and community clout

article-image

Sponsored

WalletConnect is cementing itself as the essential connectivity layer, ensuring wallets remain the entry point for billions of users

article-image

According to a legal filing, Galaxy Digital helped boost the price of LUNA while quietly selling its tokens