Cardano Developer IOHK Launches $20M Fund for Ecosystem Startups

Cardano developer house IOHK has set up a $20 million "cFund" alongside Los Angeles-based Wave Financial.

• The fund has a broad remit to invest in startups and early-stage businesses that use Cardano and other IOHK tech initiatives – such as enterprise blockchain ATALA.
• Commits will range between $250,000 and $500,000 for either equity or token stakes.
• The cFund is a 50/50 venture: IOHK has already put in the "anchor" $10 million, and Wave plans to raise the other half from external investors.
• Nathan Kaiser, IOHK's general counsel, will become cFund's chief investment officer.
• An IOHK spokesperson said cFund did not overlap with EMURGO – Cardano's commercial arm – which has also supported new ventures.
• California-regulated Wave Financial tokenized a year's supply of Kentucky Bourbon whiskey was worth $20 million earlier this year.
• Both sides had been in talks for many months but the fund's launch was delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
• Both Hong Kong-based IOHK and Wave declined to comment on whether the fund had already started selecting projects for investment.

Edit (10:30 UTC): This article previously indicated Wave Financial was based in Canada. It is, in fact, based in Los Angeles and London.