The fund will focus on direct investments in high-potential startups building on the network, global marketing and liquidity provision and education support.
The Cardano Foundation has partnered with global venture capital firm Draper Dragon and the Draper University to launch a new fund that targets scaling global adoption.
The new fund is part of the proposed Cardano 2030 Vision, Mission, Strategy Framework and KPIs, which calls for the hardening and scaling of the protocol, the creation of robust on-chain demand and anti-fragile on-chain governance.
The new fund will focus on three pillars: direct investments, educational support and growth capital. Under investments, it will back startups with high potential building on the Cardano network, including through accelerators, while also providing access to exchanges and institutions.
The growth capital pillar will drive global marketing and provide liquidity for the builders. It will also establish an in-house venture studio where developers can get technical guidance.
Education remains critical to attracting new talent, and the fund will launch mentorship and residency programs for the most elite builders. It’s not Cardano’s first attempt at attracting developers; as we reported, Midnight Network launched the Aliit Fellowship and brought in the first cohort of developers and founders last month.
The initiative will be known as the Cardano x Draper Dragon Ecosystem Fund, or DDC Fund. The goal is to drive returns back to the network’s Treasury, while boosting the total value locked (TVL) and making the entire ecosystem self-sustaining. Ultimately, the two partners envision the Treasury being an active growth engine, not a passive reserve.
Draper Dragon will be charged with managing the fund. The VC is is part of the wider Draper Venture Network, which connects dozens of funds associated with Silicon Valley icon Tim Draper. Based in San Francisco, it invests in early-stage tech companies, and was an early backer of Coinbase, eToro and Ledger.
The two parties believe that the fund can increase the network’s on-chain revenue and stablecoin market cap. The target is to increase the TVL from the current $300 million to $3 billion. They also aim to boost the number of projects targeting strategic sectors such as tokenization of real-world assets and institutional DeFi.
The Foundation summed it up:
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