Galaxy Digital Raises $175 Million for First External Venture Crypto Fund

Galaxy Digital closed its first externally backed venture fund at $175 million, exceeding its $150 million target. This fundraising is the company’s first admission of third-party investors after previously funding ventures exclusively from its own balance sheet.

The fund will deploy capital to emerging protocols in stablecoins, decentralized finance platforms, and enterprise blockchain applications. General partner Mike Giampapa said the fund targets projects with “tangible” applications beyond speculative use cases.

Galaxy serves as both general and limited partner in the fund. The company declined to name other participants but described them as institutional players, family offices, and fund-of-funds connected to its asset management clients.

The $175 million final close follows a first raise of $113 million in July 2024. Galaxy has already deployed approximately $50 million to portfolio companies, including Monad, a performance-focused blockchain, and Ethena, a yield-bearing stablecoin issuer.

Portfolio Strategy and Platform Integration

The fund team, led by partners Will Nuelle and Mike Giampapa, plans to build a portfolio of roughly 30 investments in the most promising early-stage companies. The team will leverage Galaxy's platform for marketing, talent acquisition, and business development support for portfolio companies.

The division operates alongside Galaxy's crypto services, including asset management, Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, and mining. The integrated approach creates a pipeline from token issuance through secondary markets and private investments.

We’ve had this thesis going back pretty much since Galaxy’s inception, which is we think these two worlds are colliding. We want to invest at the earliest stages,

 said Mike Giampapa.

The fund's early investments reflect its diversified strategy. Portfolio companies span infrastructure projects like Monad and application-layer solutions such as Ethena, demonstrating Galaxy's approach across different blockchain ecosystem layers.

Galaxy Digital’s Strategic Evolution

Galaxy Digital was founded in 2018 by former Goldman Sachs partner Mike Novogratz. The firm developed into a crypto conglomerate spanning trading, asset management, mining, and venture investing. 

Galaxy filed to list on the Nasdaq in April and began trading in May under the ticker GLXY, opening at $23.50 per share. With the listing, it joined other public crypto companies such as Strategy (MSTR), Coinbase Global (COIN), and Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA). The decision to launch an externally funded venture vehicle reflects the company’s growth trajectory and the maturing market environment.