# ConsenSys exec joins CoinFund to assist early-stage blockchain firms

Vanessa Grellet, a five-year veteran of Ethereum software company ConsenSys, will be joining crypto investment group CoinFund as its new head of portfolio growth.

In an announcement from CoinFund today, the investment group said Grellet would be responsible for guiding its portfolio of more than 50 companies and projects. The new head of portfolio growth will be aiming to “bridge the gap between the worlds of traditional companies and decentralized networks” by forming alliances between blockchain projects and protocols.

“My team will serve as partners who support and guide founders and their teams during their journeys from early-stage to growth-at-scale,” said Grellet. “The firm’s investment in our Portfolio Growth team […] demonstrates our dedication to meeting the needs of early-stage companies as well as our long-term commitment to the blockchain industry.”

CoinFund has invested in many popular projects in the crypto space. In September, the firm backed non-fungible token-based digital art marketplace Rarible, after which its governance token doubled in price. The investment group was also behind funding for Delta Exchange’s expansion into Indian markets last May.

A financial analyst and lawyer, Grellet previously worked as a corporate strategy executive at the New York Stock Exchange. She currently sits on the boards of the Arts and Antiquities Blockchain Consortium and the Accounting Blockchain Coalition and is the president of Blockchain for Social Impact Coalition.