Taipei-based venture capital firm Nogle Capital Management on Wednesday announced that it participated in recent fundraising of blockchain startup Blockstack and encrypted messaging service Telegram through its Nogle Ventures Strategy Fund I SPC.
The two startups raised funding through their respective exclusive, private pre-initial coin offering (ICO), it said in a statement.
Besides, the Nogle fund has also got into a deal-sharing and sourcing, co-marketing and co-investment agreement with China-US cross border venture capital firm Oyster Ventures as it aims to invest in high growth technology ventures.
A report from Bloomberg last week said that Telegram, founded by Russian entrepreneur Pavel Durov, has already raised $850 million from 81 investors in funding, and is looking to raise another $850 million soon. The total size of Telegram ICO may reach $2.55 billion, it said quoting Russia’s Vedomosti newspaper.
Nogle’s investments in Blockstack and Telegram are aimed at building a portfolio of technology startups.
“These investments represent only a sample of the involvement that Nogle Capital Management is making in blockchain and the kind of professional investment firms we participate with. More upcoming opportunities we will be involved in will represent our consolidation as an active participant in the blockchain space,” Salas said.
Blockstack is an Internet browser which uses the blockchain to enable decentralized storage and decentralized authentication & identity for applications allowing interactions between users and applications. The startup is backed by Union Square Ventures, Foundation Capital, Lux Capital, Winklevoss Capital, Blockchain Capital, Digital Currency Group, Y Combinator partner Qasar Younis, Techcrunch founder Michael Arrington and Digg founder Kevin Rose.
Meanwhile, Telegram plans to launch its own blockchain platform and native cryptocurrency, powering payments on its chat app and beyond that could compete with Visa Inc. or Mastercard Inc., bringing digital assets to the mainstream. The launch will be funded with an enormous ICOs, with forthcoming private pre-sales ranging into the hundreds of millions, the statement said.
As part of the partnership with Oyster, Jonathan Leong, Executive Chairman of Nogle Limited, the parent company of Nogle Capital Management, would be join Oyster as a General Partner.
“The Oyster platform has strengthened our existing network within the global technology community as a truly global investment platform and validates our dedication to sourcing the best investments for our investors,” said Carlos Salas, Managing Partner of Nogle Capital Management.
Oyster is an early stage investment platform targeting US-based frontier technology startups in the areas of blockchain, artificial intelligence, fintech, media tech and more.
Nogle Capital Management is dedicated to invest in early stage (from seed up to Series A) technology companies. Its primary focus is to invest in Asia startups in areas such as cloud/SaaS, media & entertainment, fashion technology, network solutions, cyber security, and fintech.
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