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- RBV Weekly Newsletter🧔📖
RBV Weekly Newsletter🧔📖
Open Deals, Portfolio Updates, Crypto News, RBV Fund I Closing & More
Joshua Howard
June 01, 2023
RBV Weekly Newsletter🧔📖: Open Deals, Portfolio Updates, Crypto News, RBV Fund I Closing & More
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We at RBV believe that Decentralized Finance (DeFi) will be a big part of the future of finance. The systems in place evolved over centuries, and did so according to necessities that may no longer exist. We no longer need a king’s face stamped onto precious metals to transact, in fact we no longer need any centralized body to “promise” us that a certain unit of money is worth anything. Proof of Work and Proof of Stake were advancements that allowed for truly sound money, a store of value that cost something to make or was redeemable for a service that nobody was actually in control of. Now, any individual is empowered to buy (or make) these currencies with full confidence that, sans a global catastrophe, the network will persist and those currencies will have value. This is such a stark contrast to the previous 5,000+ years of value exchange, that it really is best described as a financial “revolution”. We are proud to be revolutionaries in this exciting period of change, and we believe that the world will end up more equitable, transparent, and secure because of it.
Also, just a quick reminder that we have started our search for candidates for our Tokenomics Accelerator, Denarii Labs. This initiative, jointly powered by Red Beard Ventures and Horizen Labs Ventures (known for creating Yuga Labs’ ApeCoin and many other successful projects), aims to assist Web3 builders in designing, developing, and executing their tokenomics and token launch strategies with the help of top-notch advisors, strategic partners, and investors.
Through the accelerator, five fortunate projects will be selected and equipped with the necessary skills to achieve an exceptional token release within three months of the curriculum. Interested parties can register at www.denariilabs.xyz.
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🚨 TL;DR: This Week in Crypto
Binance to delist privacy tokens in France, Italy, Spain, and Poland
Solana smashes $20 barrier as active users surge & integrations expand
Deutsche Telekom (T-mobile) joins as a validator on the Polygon network
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📣 As a reminder, Red Beard Ventures has both a syndicate and fund:
The Red Beard Ventures Syndicate is stage agnostic and invests in Frontier Technology with a focus on Web3, Space, FinTech, Robotics, Biotech, and Climate. We invest anywhere between $100k - $1.5M.
The Red Beard Ventures Fund I invests $100k - $1M in Pre-seed and Seed blockchain-based companies.
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🪙 Crypto News:
Binance, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges, has announced the delisting of Monero (XMR), Zcash (ZEC), and Dash (DASH) will no longer be available for trading on Binance in Europe.
The decision comes as a result of increasing regulatory scrutiny and concerns over compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations
The new regulatory guidelines will enforce asset custody safety, conflict of interest avoidance, customer asset segregation, and cybersecurity standards
As Solana continues to regain momentum, investors and analysts are closely monitoring its price movements and speculating on its future performance, new developments may spike the price
Solana's future price will depend on factors such as market trends, investor sentiment, and the overall growth of the platform
Solana has officially integrated artificial intelligence (AI) into its ecosystem.
Solabs Labs has developed a ChatGPT plugin will allow users to check wallet balances, transfer Solana-native tokens and purchase nonfungible tokens with ChatGPT
Deutsche Telekom, one of the largest telecommunications companies in Europe, has joined the Polygon network as a validator
The partnership between Deutsche Telekom and Polygon aims to enhance the security and reliability of the network by leveraging the telecom giant's infrastructure and expertise
As a validator, Deutsche Telekom will participate in the consensus mechanism of the Polygon network, contributing to transaction validation and network governance
The involvement of a reputable company like Deutsche Telekom further strengthens Polygon's position in the blockchain ecosystem and increases confidence in its scalability solutions
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🗃️ Portfolio News:
Ceramic is a decentralized data network that powers an ecosystem of interoperable Web3 applications and services.
Ceramic, posted bounties for the AlgoveraAI Hackathon.The bounties encouraged participants to explore the capabilities of ceramic in innovative waysHackathon aimed to highlight and expand the best use cases of ceramic within the AlgoveraAI ecosystem
CollabGPT, a figma for prompt engineers was selected for utilizing the best use of Ceramic & Algovera AI
🔗Please take a look at their demo!
Tilt Five, is a company that produces AR glasses that bring tabletop, multiplayer games to life.
The podcast offers a glimpse into Ellsworth's remarkable career, & set the stage for what to expect from future AR developments.
Ellsworth's wealth of knowledge, pioneer status & innovative thinking make for an engaging discussion that provides listeners with a deeper understanding of the AR landscape.
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💸 NFT Alpha
ANA (All Nippon Airways), one of the leading airlines in Japan, is expanding its involvement in Web 3.0 by launching an NFT marketplace
The NFT marketplace will allow ANA to explore new avenues in digital asset ownership and provide unique experiences to its customers
Through the marketplace, ANA aims to offer NFTs related to travel, aviation, and exclusive collaborations, creating a bridge between the physical and digital worlds
ANA's recognition of NFTs signifies the growing significance of NFTs potential in revolutionizing various industries.
Trademark filings indicate that Kellogg's is exploring potential ventures in the NFT space, signaling the company's desire to embrace digital assets and blockchain technology
While specific details about Kellogg's NFT plans are not disclosed, the filings hint at the possibility of creating NFT-related products or experiences related to their iconic brands
Kellogg's entry into the NFT realm showcases the increasing mainstream interest in leveraging blockchain technology and digital collectibles
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🔔 Active Investment Opportunities:
Tafi: The Global Leader in 3D Assets and Text-to-3D genAI
Largest commercial library of 3D assets in the world; customers include Coca-Cola, HBO, Warner/DC, Coinbase, and others
Their product DAZ 3D (link to demo here) creates ultra-HD fully compatible and customizable characters
Exclusive partnership with NVIDIA to train even greater AI capabilities
Brex: Financial Services to Businesses of all Sizes
200% growth YoY with 200k customers
Ranked the #2 disruptor in their field by CNBC two years in a row
Expanded by acquiring six startups and partnering with Techstars for further expansion
Potion: Using AI to Create Personalized Video Content
On track for $1M ARR by July of this year
Unique no-code platform allows marketing managers and advertisers to create personalized video content
Coinvesting with UpHonest, Streamlined Ventures, and others
Bridgetower Capital: Blockchain Tech Giant Offers First Rriced Round
Bridgetower develops proprietary technology to support a wide range of financial services
$23M in revenues last year and incredible profit margins (90% Gross, 81% EBITDA)
Coinvesting with CMT Digital, Moonpay Ventures, SBI Holdings, RW3 Ventures
0-G Launch: Better Rocket Launch Platform for the Growing Space Industry
0-G is building a fleet of Boeing 757s specially designed for precision high altitude flight
The first purpose of these aircraft is to launch rocket payloads high in the stratosphere
The second purpose will be flying long parabolic dives for zero-gravity testing and consumer experiences
Edison AI Systems: Zapier for AI, Link Multiple Models into One Workflow
Edison AI is building a web platform to build complex, interoperable AI systems
Developers can cut their time and costs by 60–90%, deploying in days, not months
The platform can operate as no-code or low-code, meaning even novices can link together StableDiffusion, GPT-4, a voice mimicking AI, and more!
Siegelman Stable: Streetwear with a Conscience - Gary Vaynerchuk Lead
Rapidly gaining mass appeal and A-list celebrity endorsements
Nearly one million dollars in gross revenue in 2022
Founded by the son from a top horse racing family, Max Siegelman, past collaborator with Kanye West, NBA teams, Puma, Hypebeast, Lexus, and more
One Earth Rising: Ownable Interoperability for Modern Gaming
Their standard has self-sovereignty and a format game engines can understand
This format seeks to become industry standard
All facets of the asset - items, moments, stats - are able to be minted
GET protocol: The Premium NFT Ticketing Solution
GET has been building NFT ticketing since 2016
They have a full range of ticketing products for event holders, from self-service to full concierge, and also whitelabel solutions
Issued nearly 3.4 Million tickets (1.7M in 2022 alone), over 17k events
Investment includes a token grant AND discounted token purchase rights
Simply Eggless: The Future of Egg Alternatives
Simply Eggless is the second-largest producer and supplier of plant-based eggs globally, with a revenue of $2M in 2022
Their products are sold in over 2.8k stores in North America and the company is looking to expand to 1k more stores, serving their massive popularity among Gen Z and Millennials
The main ingredient used by Eggless is lupin bean, which offers high protein, excellent baking functionality, and is environmentally friendly
The competitors in vegan egg alternatives all fall behind Simply Eggless, which has a much more versatile and shelf-stable product
Blocklords: GoT Meets Axie - Revolutionizing Play-To-Earn Gaming
Blocklords already has 120k pre-registered for their play-to-earn game
The medieval-based game allows players to craft their narrative while simultaneously earning cryptocurrency for tasks they complete within the game (Play-to-earn model).
Blocklords is focusing on delivering value to the user first to build up the user base and ecosystem first - This approach seems to be working by their massive sign-up and connection numbers
Money earned can be used to progress in the game or traded on crypto exchanges.
Bitscraft, Delphi Digital, and Animoca Brands are all investing
SAFT, $100M FMV
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🥳 Upcoming Events:
In-person events are a great way to stay informed in our industry, so we are planning for a very full 2023. We would love to hear about any other conferences you will be attending this year, so please let us know as we are still planning our event calendar!
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🤝 We are hiring!
We are looking for syndicate vertical leads in the following categories - if you are interested please reach out and we can discuss the opportunity in greater detail:
Biotech
Space
Robotics & Automation
Climate
Fintech & SaaS
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Onwards 🚀
Drew, Elana, Whit, Mitchell, and Lauren