NEO EcoFund is the dedicated ecosystem investment vehicle associated with the NEO blockchain, the Chinese smart contract platform originally launched as AntShares in 2014 and rebranded as NEO in 2017. The fund channels capital into projects building on the NEO N3 protocol, with a primary geographic focus on China and broader Asia-Pacific. Its mandate is narrower than general-purpose crypto venture funds: it backs teams that deepen liquidity, developer tooling, or user adoption within the NEO ecosystem specifically.
Public information about NEO EcoFund's structure – including its total AUM, formal founding date as a standalone fund, and managing partners – is limited. The fund operates under the broader governance umbrella of NEO Global Development (NGD), the entity responsible for core protocol development. This arrangement is common among layer-1 ecosystem funds, where the foundation and the investment vehicle share overlapping leadership and treasury assets rather than operating as fully independent entities.
Notable investments
With a disclosed portfolio count of five companies and one lead investment, NEO EcoFund is a targeted rather than high-volume investor. Specific portfolio names have not been widely reported in major industry outlets, and the fund does not maintain a public-facing investment database comparable to those of larger multi-chain funds. Projects known to have received NEO ecosystem support include DeFi protocols and NFT infrastructure built on NEO N3, though attribution between direct EcoFund investment and broader NGD grant funding is not always clear in public disclosures.
Team
NEO was co-founded by Da Hongfei and Erik Zhang. Da Hongfei serves as founder and has been the public face of NEO's institutional outreach; Zhang is the primary protocol architect. Whether either figure directly manages EcoFund investment decisions, or whether a separate investment team operates the vehicle, is not confirmed in available public sources.
Recent activity
NEO migrated its mainnet to the N3 architecture in 2021, and ecosystem fund activity since then has focused on seeding applications on the upgraded protocol. Beyond that migration period, public announcements of new EcoFund deals have been infrequent. The fund has not appeared in major funding round announcements tracked by Crunchbase or The Block during 2024–2025.
For investors and founders, NEO EcoFund is most relevant as a strategic backer for teams committed to the NEO N3 stack. Its small disclosed portfolio and limited public deal flow suggest it operates more as a strategic grant-and-equity hybrid than a conventional venture fund. Teams building outside the NEO ecosystem are unlikely to be a fit. Public information on performance, returns, or fund size remains unavailable as of mid-2026.