Ex-Binance executives launch $100 million venture fund
A team of four former Binance executives is launching a $100 million venture fund to invest in new crypto technologies such metaverse, Web3.0, and DeFi.
Dubbed ‘Old Fashioned Research (OFR),’ the new fund’s investments cover early-stage incubation, venture capital, M&A and other special situations. It plans to deploy that capital across promising “companies, teams, and ideas that have the power to move the crypto ecosystem forward in a positive and meaningful way.”
OFR is led by Ling Zhang, who was previously the VP of M&A and investments at Binance and Wayne Fu, former Head of Corporate Development.
Additionally, the venture arm is bolstered by Jiang Xi”, who led Binance Labs’ and Launchpad’s major investment deals such as Axie Infinity, Moonbeam, Alpha Finance and others. Wei Zhou, the former CFO at Binance and now the new CEO at Coins.ph, the largest licensed crypto wallet and exchange in the Philippines, will serve as both strategic advisor and investor.
OFR is known for early bets on over 50 blockchain projects such as trading platform WOO Network, smart contract platform ZetaChain and blockchain games including Genopets and MetaDerby.
“We’re very excited to come out of stealth with our new fund and help build the next generation of Web 3.0 dApps,” said Zhang. “The OFR team has established solid knowledge and a wide range of experience across M&A, investment and incubation from our previous successful portfolio building at Binance. Deep down, we are a group of passionate builders, and we are keen to seek founders who share the same long term vision and passion of the crypto industry, and we are determined to grow with them together.”
OFR said its fresh financing was funded by major limited partners from inside and outside the crypto ecosystem. The lead investor was Wemix, the global gaming platform backed by the listed gaming company Wemade.
The funding round also saw participation form the family office of Gang Wang (JUE Capital), who was the founding investor at DiDi and crypto wallet, SafePal.
“They have chosen OFR because of the impressive track record and expertise of its key executives to dive into the crypto ecosystem. OFR aims to support on crypto-native founders from the idea stage, supporting them through the life-cycle with its proprietary research, network, and marketing support,” the company adds.
