Swiss private equity firm VIVA Investment Partners AG is leaning into crypto funding through a new stake in blockchain venture capital firm SPiCE VC. 

Announced Tuesday, SPiCE said the Swiss firm acquired an equity position in SPiCE’s management company and its fund. The release also said one of the equity firm’s co-founders, Rene Eichenberger, would join the board of the venture capital company. 

“Together with VIVA Investment Partners, SPiCE VC will further strengthen its leadership position in this rapidly growing market,” said Tal Elyashiv, co-founder of SPiCE VC. 

Elyashiv said SPiCE would focus on services including custody, marketplaces, compliance, rating, payments or banking-related tokenization, among others. 

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VIVA CEO Julie Meyer said the partnership represents the shared belief that a fundamental shift is happening in the securities industry. 

“We all see the emergence of a new market sector akin to when music went digital or when Tesla emerged,” she said. “We intend to make SPICE VC the leading investor in this ecosystem.” 

The partnership with SPiCE VC is the Swiss private equity firm’s first investment in the crypto space. VIVA previously invested in firms including UK-based DRIVE Software Solutions,  Swiss battery technology company IQ International and a Milan-based AI firm.