Funds
CityBlock Capital – Venture Capital for the Digital Age
Who is CityBlock Capital?
CityBlock Capital is a venture capital firm that is looking to launch various geographically based funds. They believe the future is digital, and that the technology that will take us there is blockchain. With multiple high-profile partnerships, CityBlock Capital is poised to make waves in the industry in the coming years.
What is the problem?
Traditional investing in foreign start-ups is typically met with high levels of resistance. This may occur though simple accessibility, or through a lack of liquidity.
Both of these issues have a negative effect on both the investor and the start-up themselves. The investor is deterred due to the hurdles that must be cleared, and the start-up suffers because they may be passed over for another company.
Finally, money is limited. There needs to be a way to tap into a larger investment pool. If this is achieved, along with the removal of liquidity and accessibility issues, the industry’s future will look bright.
How will they fix it?
CityBlock Capital believes they have an answer to the issues raised above. The company intends to launch various VC funds targeted towards different markets. Their current flagship fund is specifically geared towards start-ups based in New York City. This fund is known as NYCQ, and totals $20million.
Through the implementation of blockchain, a simple idea is made possible. CityBlock capital is able to provide start-ups with capital to help them along their way. This is drawn from a pool of capital, globally, rather than being restricted to the United States. Those that invest and provide this capital receive a digital version of a ‘share’ in the fund. This digitized share is known as a security token.
This token provides international investors accessibility to start-ups in the United States. Investors within the United States are only required to invest $25,000 or more, while international investors can start with as little as $1000.
At the same time, investors have the luxury of high levels of liquidity. Through partnerships with trading platforms such as AirSwap, these tokens can be traded easily. This is enticing to investors, as they are not locked into their investments long term if they do not want to be.
By following these simple steps, CityBlock Capital has increased accessibility, liquidity, and appeal of their planned funds.
Team?
In the short time that the company has been around, the trio at the helm of CityBlock Capital have managed to develop partnerships with multiple high-profile companies. These range from Morgan-Creek Financial and Airswap, to Securitize. Drawing on their experiences from working at Google, practicing VC law, and entrepreneurialism, the following founders have high hopes for CityBlock Capital.
Robert J. Nance – Cofounder & Managing Partner
Jon Avidor – Cofounder & Managing Partner
Max Goldstein – Cofounder & COO
Whats next?
NYCQ is only the tip of the iceberg. CityBlock Capital has announced that this fund is only the 1st of 3 that they plan on launching before years end. Each of these funds will be targeted to specific geographical areas similar to NYCQ.
To learn details about the project, please view our CityBlock Capital Token Listing page.
SpaceFund One
It was recently announced that SpaceFund has completed the first round of investments for their ‘SpaceFund One’ portfolio.
This marks an important step forward for the company, as it marks the transition from potential to actuality in their plans.
What is it?
SpaceFund hosts investment portfolios, curated by a team of forward thinking professionals, enveloped and shaped by Space based ventures. The first fund created by the team is known as ‘SpaceFund One’, and is still open for further investments by accredited investors.
The team behind the project makes use of blockchain technologies to tokenize ownership of the companies it chooses to invest in. In turn, start-ups working toward the future of space based endeavours gain access to much needed capital, while investors can play a role in helping them succeed – all the while benefiting from increased liquidity on their investment. Such liquidity is made possible by platforms such as OpenFinance, which supports secondary market trading of digital securities (including SpaceFund tokens ‘SF1’).
When SpaceFund was first getting off the ground, securities.io CEO, Antoine Tardif, took the time to share his thoughts on the company. Make sure to peruse the following article to learn more about the team behind the project, and what it is they are trying to achieve.
SpaceFund – Security Tokens for Futurist Investors
Headliners
The first round of investments for their first fund is comprised of three promising companies – each vastly different from the other.
Made in Space
3D printing has improved by leaps and bounds over the past decade. The next leap for this useful technology will see it put to use in Space. The potential that 3D printing holds for cost savings, surrounding space based endeavours, is staggering; Enough so that Made in Space caught the attention of NASA in early 2019 – resulting in a $73.7M contract by the authorities on space.
CEO, Andrew Rush, currently oversees company operations.
Axiom
Commercial space travel has captivated the imaginations of humans around the world for years now. However, for this to become a reality, there needs to be a commercial based space station. Axiom looks to make this a reality by learning from, and improving on, the International Space Station (ISS). In fact, the Axiom station will begin its life as an extension, or ‘node,’ of the ISS. This relationship benefiting both, with the ISS seeing increased crew capacities and research capabilities.
Operations at Axiom are overseen by CEO, Michael Suffredini.
Orbit Fab
With a means of perpetual energy yet to be discovered/developed, Earth’s satellites and Space based vehicles are dependent on more traditional forms of fuel. Orbit Fab looks to service this need by developing technologies and infrastructure to support space based refuelling stations. While this may seem like a simple concept, the execution is anything but.
Orbit Fab sees their operations spearheaded by a pair of co-founders – Daniel Faber and Jeremy Schiel.
SpaceFund
Founded in 2018, SpaceFund maintains headquarters in Houston, Texas. Above all, the company operates as a VC firm, with a focus on utilizing blockchain technologies to facilitate space based endeavours.
Founding Partner – Rick Tumlinson, currently oversees company operations.
In Other News
While SpaceFund remains quite unique with regards to the nature of companies they are looking to invest in, the idea of a tokenized investment fund has become quite popular. The following articles are just a few which shed light on other funds which make use of a similar approach to their structuring.
22X Fund – One Token, Silicon Valley’s Top Startups
Science Blockchain – Investing Down to a Science
Protos – Worlds 1st Tokenized Hedge Fund Trades Publicly
SPiCE VC – Reshaping Ownership of Assets
The world of tokenized assets continues to expand into the traditional financial sector. This month, the world’s first tokenized hedge fund, Protos (PRTS), became available to public investors via the OpenFinance trading platform.
The Protos hedge fund reads like a whos-who of early crypto projects including classics like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Monero. The fund initially made headlines after Protos successfully sold over $6.5 million worth of tokens during its initial release. Now, developers are ready to allow Main Street investors a chance to trade this diverse investment instrument.
Protos via Homepage
Protos Trading
The Protos fund trades on the OpenFinance Network which is an SEC-registered Alternative Trading System (ATS). As an ATS, OFN can offer users additional functionalities not available to traditional investors. These benefits include faster transactions, lower fees, and the ability to trade 24-hours a day. Comparingly, Wall Street investors can only trade hedge funds during the hours of 9:30 – 4:00 pm. Also, trading closes on national holidays.
Protos Hedge Fund
Protos investors gain access to a variety of early blockchain projects. These projects include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Monero, Ada, XRP and zCash to name just a few. Speaking on what projects made the cut, company executives stated that the fund includes a host of highly liquid projects.
Additionally, Protos partnered with a number of additional token issuance platforms including Polymath to make the project a success. The Photos tokenized hedge fund operates as a security token per SEC guidelines. Notably, the token utilizes the Securitize DS Protocol to ensure lifetime compliance.
OpenFinance Network – OFN
OpenFinance is one of only a few security token exchanges. Currently, OFN lists six security tokens including the highly publicized Spice VC token. According to the SEC registration, OFN’s license allows the platform to trade Reg D, Reg A+, Reg CF, and Reg S exemptions.
In a recent interview, OFN CEO Juan Hernandez praised the benefits of Reg A+ listings. He spoke on how companies can list tokens faster and with fewer requirements. Also, firms can raise up to $50 million in each Reg A+ campaign. When tokenized, Reg A+ crowdfunding events provide even further incentives.
For example, in the past, only accredited investors could participate in these events. An accredited investor must show at least $1 million in liquid assets. As you could imagine, the majority of investors were left out of the loop. This strategy hurt companies the most because they were unable to accept more funds. Tokenization allows companies to receive funding from any investor globally.
SEC Opens Doors to Reg A+ Token Offerings
The SEC’s recent decision to begin Reg A+ approvals provides companies with some guidance as to how to proceed with an STO legally. In the past, companies complained about a lack of transparency in the sector. This lack of clarity creates a roadblock to large scale adoption. Today, Hernandez believes the advantages of tokenization are undeniable, and that investors will steer the market towards these services as they become more widely understood.
Protos Envisions the Future
The Protos hedge fund is a glimpse of what the financial markets will hold in the future. The fund’s diverse holdings are ideal for investors that desire to own a piece of the most important crypto projects released to date.
BCAP Support
In a move important to the world of digital securities, Coinbase has just announced the immediate support for BCAP tokens on Coinbase custody.
This means that investors now have a reliable service to not only store their BCAP tokens, but to deposit and withdraw them as well.
Ideally, this announcement of support will have broken the ice – meaning we will hopefully see Coinbase Custody bring support for an increasing amount of similar tokens.
Custody Solutions
Since day one, reliable custody solutions have been noted by many as one of the major hurdles to achieving mainstream adoption of digital securities. Recognizing this, various companies have been working hard to develop their own solution. Coinbase custody represents one of these offerings, and in its short time since launch, has become one of the industry’s most popular services.
To date, Coinbase custody manages over $1 billion in funds, represented by over 30 assets – now including BCAP.
Commentary
Coinbase Custody now supports deposits and withdrawals for $BCAP pic.twitter.com/e1ajQcSE0f
— Coinbase Custody (@CoinbaseCustody) June 5, 2019
Beyond the Coinbase tweet, multiple noteworthy names in the sector commented on the announcement. This includes, both, Carlos Domingo (CEO of Securitize) and Jamie Finn (President of Securitize).
Great news for the ecosystem, @coinbase now supporting securities issued by @Securitize DS protocol starting with @blockchaincap BCAP token. https://t.co/AFeVNfypLk
— Carlos Domingo (@carlosdomingo) June 5, 2019
A much needed piece of the Digital Securities Puzzle is coming together. Very proud to have @Securitize DS tokens supported by @CoinbaseCustody https://t.co/20cVVW2yuN
— 🙈 Jamie Finn (@finnstr) June 5, 2019
BCAP
Beyond the service they offer, Blockchain Capital is notable as they represent one of the very first security tokens to be offered to investors. This digital security was developed through use of the ‘DS Protocol’ – a product of industry leading issuance platform, Securitize.
The BCAP token represents fractionalized ownership in an investment fund, tailored around companies within the blockchain industry. For a full look at the BCAP portfolio, check out the list HERE.
Company operations are headquartered in San Francisco, and overseen by Managing Partners, P. Bart Stephens and W. Bradford Stephens.
Coinbase
Coinbase is a Seattle based company, which operates as a service provider within the world of cryptocurrencies and blockchain. These range from merchant services, to custody solutions, and trading capabilities.
Despite their standing within the industry, and the services developed by their team, Coinbase has notably struggled to retain talent in recent months. We have seen the departure of multiple high-level employees. The most recent of which is the Coinbase CTO, Balaji Srinivasan.
Company operations are overseen by CEO, Brian Armstrong.
In Other News
Custody solution are a vital component to creating a flexible and reliable foundation within digital securities. Here are a few articles discussing the adoption, and launch, of various custody solutions over recent months.
TokenSoft Announces ‘Knox Wallet’ – A Mobile Custody Solution for Security Tokens
Copper to Provide Security Token Custodial Services to Swarm
TokenSoft Global Markets adds Coinbase Custody, Expanding Security Token Services