On February 26, Mantle Core proposed a new $200 million fund dedicated to early-stage Web3 startups. The proposal was submitted on BitDAO’s governance forum and was co-authored by Mantle Core Team and Mirana Ventures. The main objective of the fund is to boost the adoption of Mantle’s network among developers and dApps, while also ensuring the sustainability of the Mantle EcoFund via fund performance and returns.
Mantle is a high-performance Ethereum layer-2 network built with modular architecture that is aligned with BitDAO strategic interests via the $BIT token. Ecosystem funds have historically served as an important catalyst of growth for new emerging protocols and ecosystems, particularly for developer and dApp adoption of a new protocol.
[DISCUSSION] Mantle EcoFund@0xMantle has posted a discussion proposing:
✅ Authorization to establish Mantle EcoFund 1 of a capital pool of $200M (catalyzed with a target size of $100M from BitDAO).
✅ Authorization of first capital call: $10M USDC from the #BitDAO Treasury.
— BitDAO (@BitDAO_Official) February 26, 2023
The proposed Mantle EcoFund is designed to balance primary and secondary objectives. The primary objectives are developer and dApp adoption of Mantle, while the secondary objectives are the participation of reputable venture funds into the Mantle ecosystem and the sustainability of the Mantle EcoFund via fund performance and returns.
The Mantle EcoFund aims to catalyze a capital pool of $200 million to be deployed within the Mantle ecosystem over the next three years. $100 million USDC would be provided by BitDAO from its treasury, while the Mantle EcoFund would co-invest with the Strategic Venture Partners with a 1:1 co-investment ratio. As such, $100 million would be external matching capital coming from Strategic Venture Partners of the BitDAO and Mantle ecosystem when they co-invest with Mantle EcoFund opportunistically.
The Mantle EcoFund should strive to be the ‘first money’ into teams building quality and innovative projects within the Mantle ecosystem. They would invest alongside the Strategic Venture Partners of BitDAO and Mantle Ecosystem and start supporting projects at the Pre-seed and Seed stage with the option to double down on potential big winners with promising traction and stronger use cases with $BIT whenever possible.
To ensure adherence to industry best practices and rigour for venture investing, an independent Investment Committee would be set up. Policies for the Investment Committee Membership and Investments are also proposed. Strategic Venture Partners are expected to be independent, qualified and reputable venture funds and/or founders that can provide in-depth industry and product experience, strong networks, and have demonstrated commercial success and returns for their own funds.
The deployment period for the first $100 million injection from BitDAO is targeted to be three years, with review on performance and key metrics by the Investment Committee twice a year. For management fees, the proposal suggests an industry standard 2% management fee to support the operating expenses of the EcoFund operating team (sourcing, due diligence, legal, portfolio support, fund admin, etc.).
The proposed Mantle EcoFund is a positive development for the Web3 ecosystem as it provides a significant capital pool to help grow the Mantle network, attract developers and dApps, and achieve sustainable growth. If the proposal is passed by the BitDAO community, the project team(s) will be authorized to take all necessary actions to accomplish what is contemplated in the proposal, including forming one or more legal entities and executing necessary legal documents. All legal and operational structures and documents shall substantially reflect the terms and conditions that are set forth in the proposal.
Read more:
- BitDAO Announces Proposal For Mantle Budget (First Year) To Fund High-Performance Ethereum Layer-2 Network
- BitDAO Community Asked Alameda To Provide The On-Chain Address That Promised Not To Be Sold For 3 Years
- BitDAO’s Mantle Budget Proposal Approved For Testnet And Mainnet Phases