(Bloomberg) -- Reddit Inc. co-founder Alexis Ohanian has raised $150 million for a venture fund, the first launched by his new firm, Seven Seven Six.
The investors behind Seven Seven Six are half female and 15% Black or indigenous, higher proportions than most VC firms. Speaking on Bloomberg Television on Thursday, Ohanian said the diverse investors reflected the views of the founders he is working with. “They want to know who we're making money for,” he said. “We should have a community that's reflective of our country.”
Ohanian said he was confident in the potential of digital currencies to create big and cutting-edge companies, especially given the currencies' growing adoption globally and popularity with many consumers. He said he holds some Bitcoin and “quite a bit” of Ethereum.
That hasn't stopped him from investing some personal funds into old-school businesses, including GameStop Corp., part of a group of traditional companies whose run-ups this year have befuddled many professional investors. Their supporters represent a “dogged community,” he said.
Of GameStop, Ohanian said: “Full disclosure I have shares, I've held shares for a minute now.”
The new fund, called 776, has invested in 17 startups to date, including Bitcoin-based shopping rewards program Lolli Inc. and trading platform Pipe Technologies Inc.
After leaving social-news network Reddit in 2018, Ohanian moved to Initialized Capital. He left last year. Around the same time, as protests around the murder of George Floyd roiled the nation, he left the board of Reddit, asking to be replaced with a Black board member. Michael Seibel, the managing director of startup accelerator Y Combinator, replaced him.
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