RBV + Denarii Labs Weekly Newsletter 🧔📖 Week of 07/10/25

Announcements, Portfolio Updates, Crypto News, Open Deals, Events & More

Author

Austin Ritter
July 10, 2025

Welcome to the latest edition of the Red Beard Ventures newsletter, where we dive into exciting updates and insights from all over our portfolio and network!

As a reminder, Red Beard Ventures has a syndicate, fund, tokenomics accelerator, and Web3 consultancy:

  • The Red Beard Ventures Syndicate is stage agnostic and invests in Frontier Technology with a focus on Web3, Space, FinTech, Sports, Robotics, Biotech, and Climate. We invest anywhere between $100k - $1.5M.

  • Red Beard Ventures Fund I invests $100k - $1M in Pre-seed and Seed blockchain based companies.

  • Denarii Labs is a tokenomics accelerator which invests $100k into companies interested in designing and launching a token over a twelve week hands-on program. Denarii also features a consulting business for later stage clients with higher touchpoint needs in tokenomics, communications, growth, and marketing.

🎤 RBV / Denarii Labs Announcements:

Denarii Labs Accelerator Cohort 003 - Applications Now Open

Denarii Labs is accepting applications for its third accelerator cohort - designed to help Web3 founders refine their token models, prepare for investors, and execute a best in class GTM strategy. Participating teams will receive $100,000 in funding and gain access to a robust network of 200+ Web3 portfolio companies—including Animoca, Dapper Labs, and SuperRare—for business development. Additionally, founders will connect with a community of over 4,000 investors ready to support their growth.

Red Beard Ventures Fund II - Now Raising

Red Beard Ventures is launching Fund II, building on the success of our first fund and extensive network in Web3, blockchain, and DePIN. With a track record of early investments in high growth companies and a strong investor base, Fund II is positioned to capitalize on emerging opportunities in the space.

Reach out to [email protected] for more information.

🚀 RBV Spotlight:

Wispr has raised a $30 million Series A led by Menlo Ventures to usher in a new era of voice-native computing. The company’s core product, Wispr Flow, is a voice interface that aims to eliminate the need for keyboards entirely—translating freeform speech into structured, editable text with unparalleled accuracy. Unlike traditional dictation tools, Wispr is built to understand natural human speech patterns, filler words, corrections, and intent, producing clean output with an 80%+ zero-edit rate and enabling users to write across 60+ apps seamlessly. With adoption accelerating and users saving hours each day, Wispr is positioning itself as the foundational voice layer of the future.

The round reflects growing confidence in co-founders Tanay Kothari and Sahaj Garg, Stanford-trained AI researchers with reputations for elite product craftsmanship and engineering clarity. After four years of incubation, Wispr is entering scale mode—already used in over 100 countries, supporting dozens of languages, and actively reshaping how billions of people will communicate with machines. With Menlo now joining the board, Wispr is ready to challenge the keyboard’s 150 year reign.

đź’Ľ Portfolio News:

  • Loft Orbital confirmed successful launch and first contact for the EarthDailyA satellite.

  • The mission aims to transform Earth imaging through high-resolution data and advanced analytics.

  • Loft led mission engineering and integration as part of its “Space Made Simple” approach.

  • Blaize will deploy AI across 250,000+ surveillance systems in Southeast Asia starting Q2 2025.

  • Their low-power edge AI platform powers real-time analytics for traffic, safety, and license plate recognition.

  • Valued at $56M, the project sets a new standard for urban intelligence and public infrastructure.

  • SuperWorld now allows users to pin WhatsApp, Telegram, and in-app chat groups directly to its interactive world map.

  • This feature promotes hyperlocal community building and geospatial social discovery.

  • It’s a novel move in blending communication tools with virtual location-based interactions.

  • HYTOPIA debuted the early alpha of its new MMORPG game, Frontiers, on their platform.

  • The release (v0.1.0) is a foundational version with rapid iterations expected based on player feedback.

  • This milestone reflects HYTOPIA’s expanding universe and developer-focused game tooling.

  • Fhenix held its flagship Encryption Day in Cannes alongside EthCC, spotlighting privacy and secure compute innovation.

  • Featured speakers included leaders from MetaMask, Ethereum Foundation, NEAR, Fireblocks, and more.

  • The event underscored the growing importance of TEEs and delegated privacy in Web3 architecture.

  • The world's largest claw machine is now live at Sphere Vegas, powered by Liquid Death’s branding.

  • Measuring 366 feet high and 516 feet wide, it's a physical spectacle with digital engagement layers.

  • This campaign showcases Liquid Death’s blend of stunt marketing and immersive brand experiences.

  • Venus showcased the world’s first high-thrust flight of a rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE), a major advancement in aerospace propulsion.

  • The system is 15% more efficient than traditional engines, fully reusable, and built using lean, sub-$80M development.

  • Backed by NASA and DoD, Venus aims to lead in both commercial and defense applications for next-gen flight.

  • Minima’s PoC with Zeekr will onboard 100,000 EVs and 100,000 wallboxes into a decentralized network.

  • As autonomous vehicles grow, Minima aims to support real-time, on-device decision making through blockchain at the edge.

  • This signals a major push for embedded decentralization in the automotive sector.

  • DevDapp tracks open-source contributions and pays developers directly to their wallets using AI.

  • This system aims to make coding for Web3 financially sustainable and verifiable.

  • RairProtocol positions DevDapp as core infrastructure for decentralized developer ecosystems.

  • Genies’ Smart Avatars now feature full animation rigs, prompt customization, and cross-game compatibility.

  • They offer context-aware behavior, from emotional reactions to in-game interactions.

  • This update deepens Genies’ vision of AI-driven, expressive, and interoperable digital identities.

  • Staking for the $RARE token is now live, enabling collectors to participate in protocol governance.

  • This marks the biggest update in SuperRare’s history and pushes digital art deeper on-chain.

  • The team sees this as a catalyst for scaling the $2T art market digitally through decentralized curation.

  • RairProtocol’s CTO Garrett Minks joined a Flow-hosted panel in NYC to showcase DevDapp’s evolution.

  • The app rewards open-source contributions tracked by AI across GitHub with on-chain bounties.

  • RairProtocol is positioning DevDapp as a persistent developer incentive layer for Web3.

  • Starting in July, Sagaxyz will adjust LPs, staking, and vault yields to optimize rewards, liquidity, and growth.

  • Merkl campaigns will now update bi-weekly as part of the new strategy.

  • Users are encouraged to remain active to maximize earnings under the revised program.

  • Colossal was recognized for its pioneering work in de-extinction and biosciences.

  • The CSO emphasized the need to be “efficient gardeners” of Earth’s ecosystems.

  • This award elevates Colossal’s public positioning and scientific legitimacy.

🚀 Onwards!

Drew, Elana, Joshua, Lauren, and Austin