News
This hedge fund plans to raise $500 million for investments in AI and blockchain
North Carolina-based hedge fund manager Morgan Creek Digital plans to raise about $500 million for a new fund focused on investing in artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, chip and data opportunities.
According to a Press releaseMorgan Creek’s new fund will invest in early-stage companies combining the power of artificial intelligence with blockchain technology and associated chips to unlock value from data.
Morgan Creek to Raise $500M for New Fund
Morgan Creek is looking for technologies that overlap with industries, such as high-performance chips that can be used for extraction Bitcoin or AI training models in data centers.
The hedge fund manager is already in discussions with partners, sovereign and institutional investors and corporate executives in several regions, including Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia-Pacific (APC). It also intends to expand its regional presence through the new fund.
Mark Yusko, General Partner at Morgan Creek Digital, said, “With Web3’s global reach, MCD will spend more time in international markets, seeking to connect with top CEOs and partners.”
Morgan Creek believes that the EMEA and APAC regions, especially the Middle East, will be the future technology leaders thanks to growing investments in the AI and blockchain sectors.
With over $440 million raised since its inception, the venture capital firm believes APAC could triple investment in generative AI, while EMEA nations could see capital infused in the same sectors grow by 40%. Such growth in the regions could add $30 billion in net new investment by next year.
The Rebirth of the Cryptocurrency Market VC
Morgan Creek Digital’s latest announcement comes as the crypto venture capital market bounces with more active fundraising than last year, especially for early-stage companies. The first two quarters of 2024 saw a healthy number of deals raising billions of dollars, according to a relationship by Galaxy Research.
While crypto venture capital flows peaked in Q1 2022, subsequent consecutive quarters saw declining volumes until Q1 2024, which saw $2.5 billion raised across 603 deals. Q2 2024 saw even better numbers, although the number of deals declined slightly; $3.2 billion was raised across 577 deals.
With the bull market expected to hit this year, investors may face the fear of missing out (FOMO) and stiff competition that could further increase the number of deals and the amount raised.