The world’s first venture capital fund raised with digital coin offering has gained its first round of investors, including executives from Bloq and Civic.
Blockchain Capital, the first venture capital firm to focus exclusively on DLT technology is offering digital tokens that represent a stake in the firm’s third fund. The tokens are held on the Ethereum blockchain in an ICO (Initial Coin Offering), as opposed to utilizing more traditional methods of investing.
“The traditional model [of venture capital] is antiquated—it’s going to die, and this is the beginning of that,” said Brock Pierce, managing partner of Blockchain Capital, and one of the original launchers of MasterCoin, the first ICO to launch in 2013. “Venture capitalists invest in innovation and disruption, and they have benefited from the Internet, but they haven’t been disrupted themselves,” he told Bank Innovation.
Vinny Lingham, co-founder of digital identity firm Civic and one of the earliest investors in the fund, also noted the impact this type of fund will have on the future of capital markets.
“This is really about the democratization of capital–it no longer has to come from the circle of the elite only,” Lingham told Bank Innovation. Lingham added that blockchain for venture capital would benefit younger investors especially, who might be interested in technology but who often struggle to enter the space.
Rather than creating the “Internet of Value,” as many have referred to the future effects of the blockchain, a better term would be the “Internet of Trust,” according to Pierce.
Blockchain technology can potentially ease the need for implicit trust between venture capitalists and entrepreneurs, he said. Blockchain Capital’s ICO will also utilize Ethereum’s smart contract feature, which will distribute and automate securities.
“ICOs are making it so everyone can invest, and they also open up more liquidity,” he said. “You can invest in a [traditional] fund and have your money tied up for 10 to 15 years—the average is 17—or you can invest in something with more freedom.”
Early investors—or token-holders—in the ICO include Andrew Keys of ConSensys, Matthew Roszack, co-founder of Bloq, as well as Vinny Lingham, co-founder of Civic.
Full details on the offering are available here.