Ascensive Belongings, an funding agency led by former skilled poker gamers, has raised a $130 million fund, which is able to give attention to the decentralized finance (DeFi) market.

The newest fund dwarfs Ascensive’s maiden $24 million fundraise again in 2019, which backed the likes of Polkaswap, Benqi, Yield Guild Video games and JennyDAO.

By way of buyers, the spherical was principally populated by high-net-worth people from China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Malaysia, a lot of whom are linked to the world {of professional} poker and playing, mentioned Ascensive Belongings Associate Oliver Blakey.

“They’re on line casino house owners, personal bookmakers and Asian high-net-worth people typically from the playing world,” Blakey advised CoinDesk in an interview. “A playing mentality is of their DNA, I assume. Now we have all the time recognized that world and naturally everyone desires publicity to this business now.”

Round a 3rd of the brand new fund will go in direction of early-stage startups, and the rest is mainly doubling down on winners from the primary fund, mentioned Blakey, who’s refreshingly candid in regards to the agency’s funding efficiency.

For instance, he laments lacking out on early rounds in Axie Infinity, however says Ascensive was “insanely fortunate” to get into Yield Guild Video games on the proper time.

“We’ve made some superior investments, we’ve additionally made some horrible ones,” Blakey mentioned. “I take into consideration this business as a type of hybrid of enterprise capital and a hedge fund; it’s someplace within the center.”