Pantera, Kraken and others join consortium for Injective Labs’ $150 million fund

Markets for digital assets have been fragile over the past year, but the blockchain sector continues to grow as demand intensifies from both crypto-native and traditional institutions looking to capitalize on space.

Decentralized smart contract platform Injective is the latest to announce a new $150 million ecosystem initiative to drive adoption of interoperable infrastructure and DeFi.

Leading the charge is a consortium of leading Web3 players such as Pantera Capital, Kraken Ventures, Jump Crypto, Kucoin Ventures, Delphi Labs, Flow Traders, Gate Labs, and IDG Capital, among others. Injective has assembled the largest consortium to date within the broader Cosmos ecosystem for this purpose.

$150 million fund

Members will focus on supporting promising projects in a wide range of sectors encompassing interoperability, decentralized finance, commerce, proof-of-stake (PoS) infrastructure and scalability solutions.

Along with a bespoke token, the consortium will also support via equity investments, as well as mentorship in technical development, crypto research, business development, marketing, community growth, and more.

According to the official press release shared with CryptoPotato, the focus will also be on building founders within Injective and the wider Cosmos ecosystem. Commenting on the initiative, Eric Chen, co-founder and CEO of Injective Labs, the company behind the Layer 1 blockchain, said:

“We are thrilled to see some of the biggest names in the industry joining Injective’s mission to create a more democratized financial system through decentralization. Developer activity on Injective is growing rapidly with major projects and this new ecosystem fund will provide unparalleled opportunities for new builders entering Web3 and the Cosmos ecosystem as a whole.

Funding cycle

In the midst of a brutal crypto winter, Injective Protocol raised $40 million in a round led by Jump Crypto last summer. Other participants leading the funding round included Brevan Howard Digital, the crypto arm of British billionaire hedge fund manager Alan Howard.

The new capital injection was to be used to support incoming developers. Building critical toolkits, supporting software, and core upgrades to expand the Injective ecosystem were some of the other key areas, alongside increasing the usefulness of its native token, INJ, and providing liquidity and support to dApps on its blockchain.