Crypto exchange Binance has appointed co-founder and CMO Yi He as the head of its VC arm Binance Labs.
Changpeng Zhao (left) and Yi He at Binance’s 5th-anniversary party in July / Photo credit: Binance
He will replace Bill Qian, who left the firm earlier this year.
In her new role, He will drive global strategy and oversee the day-to-day operations of Binance Labs.
In a statement, she said her aim is to “build the standard for the blockchain industry” and boost mass adoption of Web3, which the firm expects will hit one billion users in the next five years. To achieve that, the VC arm will need to focus on supporting projects that provide solutions to real-world problems.
Binance Labs currently has over 200 portfolio projects and manages US$7.5 billion worth of assets. It boasts a multiple on invested capital rate of 21x since its inception. In June, the firm closed a US$500 million fund dedicated to Web3 projects across DeFi, non-fungible tokens, gaming, and the metaverse, among others.
He met Changpeng Zhao at a conference in 2017 and became co-founder just one day before Binance’s launch date. She joined the crypto industry in 2014 as a co-founder of Chinese exchange OKCoin. Prior to that, the Sichuan-born entrepreneur spent three years working as a TV host for a travel show.
See also: Org Chart: A closer look at the people who run Binance
Editing by Miguel Cordon and Arpit Nayak
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