Futureverse Co-Founders Launch Born Ready, a $50 Million Venture Fund & Studio

Futureverse co-founders Shara Senderoff and Aaron McDonald have officially announced the launch of Born Ready, a $50 million venture fund and studio focused on backing visionary entrepreneurs whose products have potential for strategic collaboration with the Futureverse tech platform or their decentralized blockchain, The Root Network, which is designed for creating metaverse experiences and apps.

The two founders of the new venture fund said the following in the press release:

"We're incredibly excited to officially announce our Born Ready venture fund, as we seek out visionary developers and forward-thinking leaders building the future of the internet."

The press release announcement also reveals that the studio has actually invested in various companies already, including FCTRY Lab, Power'd Digital, Polemos, Walker Labs and more. FCTRY Lab is a high-tech sneaker startup launched by the former head of Adidas YEEZY Innovation Lab, Omar Bailey.

Both co-founders have been investing in the blockchain space for more than 6 years, with Shara Senderoff previously co-founding a blockchain-focused investment fund called Raised in Space, in partnership with Scooter Braun and Ripple. She led investments in more than 20 early-stage blockchain startups there, among which was a seed investment in decentralized AI protocol, Altered State Machine, an important part of Futureverse. Senderoff has been named one of Forbes’ “30 under 30,” and Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business,” among other notable accolades. Aaron McDonald was previously the co-founder and managing director of NetX Fund, which made investments in more than 60 portfolio companies focused on emerging technologies. He was also a co-founder, board member and director of one of NZ’s fastest growing technology companies, Centrality, which went on to be rebranded into Futureverse. McDonald is an active board member of Power Finance and Med Recruit and has previously been named Ernst & Young EY Technology Entrepreneur of the Year.

Daniel Gillespie, the chief business officer and co-founder of Futureverse, and Futureverse co-founder Marco Brondani are joining the new venture studio as partners.

The news comes a few weeks after Futureverse successfully closed a $54 million Series A round which was led by 10T Holdings, with Ripple participating.