China Merchants Bank subsidiary and Nervos Foundation launch $50 million blockchain fund

Layer 1s • May 18, 2021, 8:01PM EDT
UPDATED: May 18, 2021, 5:56PM EDT
crystal51/ shutterstock

CMB International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Merchants Bank, and the China-based Nervos Foundation have jointly launched a $50 million blockchain fund.

The fund, dubbed InNervation, will invest in projects that are developing decentralized applications, decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, blockchain platforms, non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces, and more.

Specifically, the fund would target projects that are either building on the Nervos blockchain or have plans to integrate Nervos into their offerings.

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InNervation will deploy the capital over three years with average investments between $200,000 and $2 million. Besides providing capital, CMB International and the Nervos Foundation look to also offer access to Nervos's tools, including a decentralized exchange, an Ethereum-compatible layer called Polyjuice, and a permissionless rollup framework called Godwoken.

The fund was raised in U.S. dollars and is a for-profit fund similar to other venture funds, a spokesperson of the Nervos Foundation told The Block.

As for CMB International's participation in the fund, the company is already an investor in Nervos via its native CKB token. The two parties partnered in October 2019 to jointly develop and launch decentralized applications for financial services. 

Besides Nervos, CMB International is also an investor in other crypto projects, including dForce Network, blockchain firm Cryptape, and crypto wallet provider Bitpie.

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Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block, covering all things crypto. As one of the earliest team members, Yogita has played a pivotal role in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With nearly 3,000 articles under her belt, Yogita holds the records as The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Prior to joining The Block, Yogita worked at crypto publication CoinDesk and The Economic Times, where she wrote on personal finance. To contact her, email: [email protected]. For her latest work, follow her on X @Yogita_Khatri5.

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