Investment firm VanEck launched a $30 million early-stage fund focused on fintech, digital assets and AI startups. What Happened: The firm announced on Wednesday that the fund, VanEck Ventures, will target pre-seed and seed-stage companies. Jan van Eck, CEO of VanEck and a keynote speaker at Benzinga’s Future of Digital Assets event on Nov. 19, emphasized the company’s history of recognizing transformative opportunities, stating, “From pioneering an approach to gold investing in 1968 to recognizing the disruptive potential of Bitcoin in 2017, embracing a long-term view on transformative opport…