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Key people at North Island.
North Island was founded in 2020 by Travis Scher (Co-Founder, Managing Partner) and James Hutchins (Co-Founder, Managing Partner).
North Island Ventures operates as a crypto-focused investment firm, dedicating its resources to supporting founders building within the nascent crypto and Web3 ecosystem. The firm specializes in providing both capital and strategic conviction to early-stage companies, identifying and backing projects that leverage new enabling technologies. Its investment approach emphasizes long-term support for these visionary founders, aiming to foster innovation across the digital asset landscape.
The firm was co-founded in 2020 by Travis Scher, James Hutchins, and Glenn Hutchins, the latter known for his significant background as a co-founder of Silver Lake, a prominent private equity firm. Their collective insight centered on the belief that emerging technological paradigms present the most compelling opportunities for impactful investment. This perspective guides North Island Ventures in identifying and nurturing companies at the forefront of the evolving internet.
North Island Ventures serves founders and startups developing foundational infrastructure and applications within the crypto and Web3 space. The firm’s vision is to be a steadfast partner to these entrepreneurs, helping them navigate the complexities of building new digital economies. It looks to the future, committing to the growth and maturation of a decentralized technological landscape.
Key people at North Island.
# North Island Ventures
North Island Ventures (NIV) is a New York–based crypto-native venture capital firm dedicated to backing visionary founders building in the crypto and Web3 ecosystem. Its mission is to provide not just capital, but deep conviction and long-term support to early-stage teams pioneering the next generation of blockchain infrastructure, applications, and user experiences.
NIV’s investment philosophy centers on backing foundational technologies that unlock new paradigms in digital ownership, decentralized finance, and trustless systems. The firm focuses on sectors including DeFi, NFTs, digital identity, blockchain cybersecurity, cross-chain interoperability, and decentralized science. With around $300 million in assets under management and a track record of early bets on high-impact projects, NIV has become a notable force in shaping the Web3 startup ecosystem, particularly in the U.S. and global crypto hubs.
Founded in 2020 by Travis Scher, James Hutchins, and Glenn Hutchins, North Island Ventures emerged at a pivotal moment in crypto’s evolution—when institutional interest in blockchain was accelerating, but few dedicated, founder-friendly funds were focused squarely on early-stage Web3 innovation. The firm was built on the belief that blockchain would fundamentally reshape how value, identity, and data move online.
James Hutchins and Glenn Hutchins brought deep financial and institutional networks from prior roles in finance and private equity, while Travis Scher contributed a strong operational and crypto-native perspective. From the outset, NIV positioned itself as a crypto-first, thesis-driven fund rather than a traditional VC dipping into crypto opportunistically. The firm raised its first fund in early 2021 and followed with NIV Fund II, a $125 million vehicle closed in late 2022, signaling strong investor confidence in its strategy and execution.
North Island Ventures is riding the long-term shift toward decentralized systems, where trust is enforced by code rather than intermediaries. As Web3 matures beyond speculative assets into real infrastructure and applications, NIV’s focus on foundational layers—interoperability, security, identity, and DeFi—positions it at the heart of this transformation.
The timing of NIV’s rise is significant: it launched just as Ethereum’s ecosystem was expanding, NFTs were mainstreaming, and institutions began seriously engaging with crypto. Regulatory uncertainty and market volatility have winnowed weaker players, but firms like NIV—with clear theses, deep expertise, and patient capital—are now better positioned to back the next wave of enduring Web3 companies.
By supporting early-stage builders in areas like cross-chain communication and decentralized science, NIV is helping to shape the plumbing of a more open, composable, and user-owned internet. Its influence extends beyond its portfolio: as a respected voice in crypto venture, it helps define what “quality” looks like in an often noisy and speculative ecosystem.
North Island Ventures is likely to double down on its core thesis: backing the foundational layers of Web3 that enable new applications, business models, and user experiences. As blockchain becomes more integrated into finance, identity, and digital ownership, NIV’s focus on DeFi, interoperability, and security will remain highly relevant.
Looking ahead, the firm may expand its influence through follow-on funds, deeper ecosystem partnerships, and potentially more active involvement in protocol governance and community strategy. The next cycle of crypto growth—driven by improved scalability, regulatory clarity, and real-world use cases—will favor funds with both capital and conviction. NIV appears well-positioned to be one of the go-to partners for the next generation of crypto founders building the decentralized internet.
In a world where many still treat crypto as a speculative asset class, North Island Ventures stands out by treating it as a technological and societal shift—and backing the builders who are making that shift real.
North Island was founded in 2020 by Travis Scher (Co-Founder, Managing Partner) and James Hutchins (Co-Founder, Managing Partner).
