LL Cool J and Paul Tudor Jones back $72M crypto fund

Published at: Feb. 4, 2021

Several high-profile figures in finance and entertainment are reportedly backing a new venture capital crypto fund from former Digital Currency Group investor Travis Scher, Silver Lake Partners co-founder Glenn Hutchins, and his son James Hutchins.

According to a report from Yahoo Finance, the crypto fund has raised roughly $72 million from investors including Paul Tudor Jones, rapper and actor LL Cool J, and former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi. The Hutchins father and son team along with Scher will manage the fund through the New York-based company North Island Ventures.

"We believe that crypto offers solutions to some of the world's most pressing problems, and our mission is to support the best entrepreneurs in the world bringing these solutions to life," said Scher on Twitter regarding the fund. "We're just getting started."

North Island has already reportedly already used the fund to invest in seven different firms in the crypto space, including Dapper Labs, the company behind the popular blockchain game Cryptokitties; Axelar, a project created by the founders of smart contract protocol Algorand; and Nori, a blockchain-based marketplace intended to fund projects working to reduce levels of carbon dioxide. Scher said others would be announced soon.

Hutchins' Silver Lake Partners is also involved in the controversial stock trades surrounding retail investors from r/Wallstreetbets and major hedge funds. According to a Reuters report, the investment firm sold its stake in AMC Entertainment stock last week, collecting roughly $713 million the same day the stock price reached a yearly high of $19.90. The price has since fallen to $7.02 at the time of publication.

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