Huobi Group's Investment Arm Dedicates $100M to DeFi, Mergers

Huobi Group is deploying $100 million into decentralized finance (DeFi) projects as well as mergers and acquisitions through its new consolidated investment arm.

The investment arm, Huobi Ventures, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Huobi Group focused on boosting the firm’s investment portfolio and providing long-term support for innovative blockchain projects, according to a press statement shared with CoinDesk on Thursday.

The $100 million pledge is the latest hefty fund to be thrown at DeFi development. Last month, Polygon launched a $100 million fund to support DeFi adoption. In March, crypto asset investment firm BlockTower Capital raised a $25 million DeFi fund.

In addition to supporting early-stage blockchain projects over a three-year period, Huobi’s $100 million fund will also be used to make strategic acquisitions to grow the firm's product offerings, according to the statement.

“Acquisitions will be integrated into Huobi’s growing suite of blockchain-enabled applications and services to expand the business into new markets. The venture capital unit will make long-term investments in emerging blockchain use cases and DeFi projects,” the statement said.

Huobi Ventures is also setting up a $10 million NFT fund focused on investing in non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles and marketplaces, the firm said.

The new investment arm also consolidates a number of the firm’s many investment vehicles, including Huobi Eco Fund, Huobi Capital and Huobi DeFi Labs, into a single entity, according to the statement.

“We have had separate teams focus on different investment strategies, but by bringing everyone together under a single entity, we can create a more cohesive strategy and continue to invest in and support the most innovative projects that are shaping the blockchain and DeFi spaces,” said Lily Zhang, Huobi Group CFO.

To date, the company has invested $69.42 million in blockchain, media, stablecoin and other projects, according to the statement.