China-founded cryptocurrency exchange Huobi Group has launched a US$100 million investment arm to focus on early-stage blockchain and decentralized finance projects over three years.

The new operation, named Huobi Ventures, will make strategic acquisitions to diversify and expand Huobi’s offerings and establish a US$10 million non-fungible token fund, the company said in a statement sent to Forkast.News.

A wholly-owned subsidiary of Huobi Group, Huobi Ventures will consolidate several existing investment vehicles, including Huobi Eco Fund, Huobi Capital, and Huobi DeFi Labs, into a single entity that will drive Huobi’s investment strategy.

The launch of Huobi Ventures expands Huobi’s investment focus into corporate mergers & acquisitions and venture capital. Huobi Ventures aims to identify strategic M&A opportunities among blockchain verticals to complement and expand Huobi’s product offerings. Acquisitions will be integrated into Huobi’s growing suite of blockchain-enabled applications and services to expand into new markets. The venture capital unit will make long-term investments in emerging blockchain use cases and DeFi projects.

To date, Huobi has invested US$69 million across projects in blockchain, media, public blockchains and stablecoins.