Stephanie Douse 
Ivy Blocks, which is what Huobi called it, will look for projects in their early stages and help them with financing and other services, to make the Web3 ecosystem better and more inclusive.
Web3 has grown into a thriving nascent industry, with many crypto exchanges and venture capital firms joining the trend. Huobi, a top ten cryptocurrency exchange in terms of volume traded, has announced the establishment of its investment arm to address these new markets. The exchange’s Ivy Blocks will be tasked with identifying potentially successful Web3 and decentralized finance projects to incubate and nurture.
According to a company press release, Ivy Blocks will have a multi-billion dollar war chest to complete its goal, making it “well-positioned to take advantage of unique opportunities in cryptocurrency markets globally.” Ivy Blocks will launch three core services to help these projects, ideally in their seed or growing stages.
These services include a decentralized finance (defi) asset management platform, an innovation-led incubation division, and a more research-driven crypto platform. All of these services will be available to Ivy Blocks-affiliated businesses.
Financing Power
Financing is an important component of the assistance that an investment firm provides to its portfolio companies. Ivy Blocks’ operation is straightforward, and it aims to provide financial assistance to startups, which frequently fail due to financial issues. Huobi CFO Lily Zhang stated about the new company’s relationship with its portfolio projects:
“Many promising projects tend to encounter liquidity constraints and a lack of go-to-market support, which presents significant barriers to growth. Our focus on providing such projects with liquidity investments and incubation services will no doubt contribute towards creating a better, more inclusive defi and Web3 blockchain ecosystem.”
Ivy Blocks already has over a billion dollars in assets under management (AUM) from several companies it has incubated. Capricorn Finance, an automated market maker (AMM) built on the Cube blockchain, is one of them.
Other exchanges have recently invested in Web3 projects as well. On June 3, Binance Labs, the exchange’s investment arm, announced the launch of a $500 million fund for Web3 projects.