Bessemer Commits $250M to Web 3, Launches DAO

Venerable venture capital firm Bessemer Venture Partners has committed $250 million in capital from existing funds to invest in Web 3 projects across three core areas: consumer decentralized finance (DeFi), infrastructure and other “enabling technologies.”

Founded over 100 years ago as a family office, Bessemer has grown into a leading investor in the consumer, enterprise and health care industries. The firm's long list of tech investments includes Shopify (SHOP), LinkedIn (LNKD) and Pinterest (PINS).

The Bessemer commitment comes as an increasing number of well-established venture capital firms have been entering the crypto space, such as Sequoia Capital and Bain Capital.

“It’s clear that we’re now at the onset of the next seismic shift: a new iteration of the web built on blockchain technology. Web 3 is an ecosystem that we believe has several decades of transformation ahead of it, and one we’re passionate about partnering with the most talented founders forging this new future,” wrote the Bessemer team in the announcement blog post.

The firm has also launched BessemerDAO, a Web 3 community for founders, creators and operators. BessemerDAO is meant to connect members of the crypto community for idea sharing, business development and tokenomics. The effort won’t be decentralized at first with Bessemer partners making decisions for the DAO, but the firm plans for the effort to become decentralized over time.

Bessemer isn’t new to crypto investing, having backed NYDIG back in 2017 when the firm was offering institutional custody services for bitcoin. Other notable crypto company investments have included digital art marketplace MakersPlace, fantasy football game Sorare and blockchain intelligence company TRM Labs.

Read more: Okcoin, Stacks Launch $165M Pledge to Support Bitcoin-Related Projects