NEAR Foundation a Swiss organization behind the NEAR blockchain protocol has announced a $100 million venture capital fund and venture lab in partnership with Caerus Ventures.

Caerus Ventures is a newly launched investment firm founded by Nathan Pillai an executive at IMG/Endeavor.

The VC fund will have an initial closing of $50 million and its primary target of $100 million during seed to Series A funding rounds.

The first funding will be in the venture lab, its focus is to bring in creators, talent, and franchise owners and build the next generation of web3 platforms.

“We want to focus on how to deepen engagement and reward the people who spend a lot of time and money consuming entertainment.” said Nathan Pillai.

“The Lab will offer cross-functional support to portfolio projects and will be supported by advisory partners who will be announced by the end of this year,” said Marieke Flament, The CEO of Near Foundation.