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HashKey secures $30M in funding from Chinese VC firm

Web3 & Enterprise·February 19, 2025, 8:28 AM

A Beijing-headquartered venture capital firm has invested $30 million in Hong Kong’s HashKey Exchange.

 

That’s according to a report published by Bloomberg on Feb. 14, citing unnamed sources understood to be familiar with the matter. HashKey’s capital injection has come from Gaorong Ventures. 

 

The Chinese VC firm was founded in 2014, initially known as Banyan Capital before rebranding as Gaorong Ventures in 2018. The VC firm focuses on early and growth-stage investments, with a specific interest in new technology. 

 

Gaorong has 23 IPO portfolios on its books, together with 30 projects valued at in excess of $1 billion. It has been an early-stage investor in Chinese tech firms such as Chinese shopping platform Meituan and online retailer PDD Holdings. 

 

Last year, the company participated in a funding round for Dongchedi, the car information and trading platform belonging to ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok.

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Beyond unicorn status

In this instance, the funds were invested with HashKey Group weighing in with a post-money valuation in the region of $1.5 billion. That puts the company well beyond unicorn status, which it achieved in a previous $100 million funding round over a year ago.

 

At that time, HashKey didn’t disclose the names of investors other than to state that they were “prominent institutional investors” and “leading Web3 institutions.” It’s understood that the round included both existing and new investors.

 

Surging VC investment in crypto startups 

This latest investment comes amid a backdrop of a surge in venture capital investment into the crypto sector. Well-known American venture investors Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) invested almost $1.2 billion in crypto projects last month. 

 

In 2024, $13.7 billion was invested in crypto and blockchain startups by venture capital firms, marking a 28% increase on the previous year. In Q4 2024, the United States took first place, accounting for 46% of investment into startups across the market in general. Hong Kong weighed in with 17% in second place.

HashKey is also playing its own role in crypto and blockchain startup investment. HashKey Exchange’s sister company, HashKey Capital, is an institutional asset manager that also invests in crypto startups. In recent weeks, the company has invested in SignalPlus, a crypto trading software firm focused on the Asian market, and Kelpr, a Cosmos (ATOM) ecosystem wallet project.

 

More crypto VC investment in 2025

In January, HashKey Capital CEO Deng Chao told Cointelegraph that he expected more VC capital investment in crypto startups in 2025. He stated:

 

“As we enter into a supportive macro environment driven by stimulative US policies and the formalization of crypto regulatory frameworks, these macro tailwinds are set to drive more VC investments heading into 2025.”

 

Meanwhile, the overarching HashKey Group is positive in its outlook with regard to the crypto and blockchain sector in 2025. Last month, it outlined that it expects Bitcoin and Ethereum to surge in price, the share of the market held by decentralized exchanges (DEXs) to increase, capital inflows into the sector from institutions to grow, the approval of more crypto ETFs and further development of layer-2 networks over the course of the year.

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