Ripple, the blockchain company, announced news on Wednesday (April 11) that it has invested $25 million of its XRP cryptocurrency in Blockchain Capital’s $150 million fund Blockchain Capital Parallel IV.
In a press release, Ripple said Blockchain Capital is the first fund focused solely on the blockchain space and is also the first to accept capital calls in cryptocurrency.
“Blockchain Capital is the premiere fund for any project looking to get off the ground in the blockchain space. They have a proven track record for finding and funding the projects that matter,” said Patrick Griffin, SVP of Strategic Growth at Ripple in a press release announcing the investment. “This is the first fund that we’ve contributed to, and it won’t be the last. We plan to be major players in shaping the future generation of blockchain or crypto companies.”
According to Ripple, Blockchain Capital will focus on investing in entrepreneurial teams that are building businesses on blockchain technology. The investment in Blockchain Capital enables Ripple to develop inroads with entrepreneurs and companies focused on other use cases, including those that use the XRP Ledger and Interledger Protocol.
“As pioneers in the blockchain sector, we have been on the front lines and in the trenches with our portfolio companies like Ripple, building a new crypto ecosystem,” said Bart Stephens, co-founder and managing partner of Blockchain Capital in the same press release. “There are entire verticals — like healthcare or identity management — that could benefit from blockchain or distributed ledger technology. Whether it’s using XRP, bitcoin or just the underlying blockchain technology, our goal is to find the best projects and give them the resources to be successful companies that deliver value to customers for the long term.”
In a recent interview with TechCrunch on the sidelines of Money2020, the payments conference held in Singapore, Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, said the company is focused on enabling banks to use its blockchain software offering, while also looking to invest in startups that could provide alternative uses for XRP.
“We, Ripple, will stay focused on solving that institutional use case, but we would certainly partner with companies that are looking to use XRP in lots of different ways,” said Garlinghouse, pointing to Omni, a San Francisco-based startup that provides storage and rental services through XRP. TechCrunch noted that Ripple and two executives from the company were the lead investors in Omni back in January.
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