VC firm Cypher Capital invests $5m in Ocean Protocol  

Cypher Capital, a UAE venture capital firm, will invest $5 million in an ecosystem fund set up with Ocean Protocol, a data exchange platform, Invezz learned from a press release. Ocean Protocol is also a monetization platform that builds on the Ethereum Mainnet and other blockchains compatible with it.

Data monetization and exchange

Ocean Protocol is open source and enables the monetization and exchange of data and data-based services, letting users preserve their privacy while buying and sharing information securely. It uses so-called data tokens to give people and businesses data access, where they can redeem tokens to access information.

Bijan Alizadeh, Co-Founder and Partner of Cypher Capital, commented:

Cypher will distribute its $5 million investment across 20 projects over two years. If the Ocean Protocol team recommends a project highly, Cypher will make a few investments totaling at least $250,000 per quarter.

Bruce Pon, Founder of Ocean Protocol, said that the deep connections between Cypher Capital and South Asian, North African, and Middle Eastern ecosystems brought projects leverage to move forward, adding:

Breaking down data silos

By giving access to quality data and breaking silos down, Ocean Protocol is moving to unlock a new Data Economy. Its marketplace technology allows for data publishing, discovery, and use in a secure, privacy-preserving way.

Cypher played a critical role in the growth of successful blockchain and crypto startups such as Splinterlands, Kilt Protocol, PAID Network, CasperLabs, and more. This is thanks to its practical, hands-on approach of assisting startups in their early stages.

At the moment, Cypher Capital is building a 10,000 sq. ft hub for crypto and blockchain startups. It will open in Dubai in the fourth quarter of this year.