by Rushali 
LL Cool J, a rapper and entrepreneur has now started to invest in crypto startups. He is part of a glitzy roster of limited partners backing North Island Ventures’ newly revealed $72 million VC fund.
The startup is led by Glenn Hutchins, co-founder of $39 billion private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, and the investors include some big names, like hedge fund boss Paul Tudor Jones; Josh Harris, co-founder of Apollo Group; and former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi.
The new VC fund, whose co-founders are Hutchins’ son James Hutchins and former Digital Currency Group investor Travis Scher, has been quietly making VC investments in crypto and blockchain projects since early last year.
Hutchins is interested in the crypto world since 2015, in both bitcoins and blockchain technology.
Travis Scher has said, “Some people might see this story and think Glenn Hutchins is jumping on the bandwagon, the truth is that Glenn was one of the earliest very established leaders from the finance community to get behind this technology.”
With Dapper labs, North Island has invested in carbon-credit tracking platform Nori and blockchain interoperability app Axelar.
Few rappers got involved in it during the 2017 boom.
“I would say that pitching LL Cool J about our fund was a surreal experience,” said Scher. “I think people across a variety of industries, including entertainment, are curious about what opportunities this technology presents for them.”
