VanEck, a leading global investment management firm, announces the launch of VanEck Ventures, a $30 million early-stage fund dedicated to investing in visionary founders operating at the intersection of fintech, digital assets, and artificial intelligence. This launch marks VanEck’s strategic expansion into venture capital, building on its long-established record of identifying and supporting transformative markets.
“From pioneering an approach to gold investing in 1968 to recognizing the disruptive potential of Bitcoin in 2017, embracing a long-term view on transformative opportunities has always been part of our investment philosophy. This fund extends that vision into the early-stage venture space,” said Jan van Eck, CEO of VanEck. “We look forward to supporting founders of what we believe are some of the most disruptive companies in fintech—those building the future of finance.”
VanEck Ventures invests in category-defining founders pushing the boundaries of financial applications and markets leveraging emerging technologies like blockchain and large language models. The fund’s investment philosophy focuses on supporting exceptional teams building at the application layer while maintaining an infrastructure-agnostic approach. The fund’s core investment themes include tokenized assets, internet native financial marketplaces, and next-generation payments building on stablecoins and tokenized capital markets.
The fund is led by Wyatt Lonergan and Juan Lopez, both seasoned investors with experience in fintech and crypto ventures. Previously, Lonergan and Lopez headed Circle Ventures, the venture arm of USDC-issuer Circle, where they successfully invested over $50 million in early-stage companies ranging from infrastructure to consumer applications. Their leadership, combined with VanEck’s strong reputation in asset management, positions VanEck Ventures as a valuable partner for emerging innovative startups. VanEck’s global workforce and senior leadership support the fund from an operational and advisory perspective.
“Three inflection points core to our investment thesis are starting to reshape the foundation of the internet: stablecoins emerging as an open-source banking layer, the commoditization of blockspace, and AI breakthroughs. The convergence of these is creating unprecedented opportunities for globally connected, user-centric financial experiences, and we are excited to back founders building on these innovations,” said Wyatt Lonergan, General Partner at VanEck Ventures.
The fund expects to make 25 to 35 investments with check sizes ranging from $500,000 to $1 million, focusing on companies that offer both strategic and financial upside. The fund has already made 4 investments yet to be announced.
“Over the past few years, we’ve seen stablecoins enable seamless, large-scale value storage and transfer along with Linux-like composability,” said Juan Lopez, General Partner at VanEck Ventures. “As several on-chain utilities, focused on programmability and compliance, come to market with growing regulatory clarity, it’s never been a more exciting time to build. Our goal is to be a long-term partner to bold founders defining the next phase of blockchain utility.”
