RBV Weekly Newsletter 🧔📖 Week of 03/06/25

Open Deals, Portfolio Updates, Crypto News, & More

Author

Austin Ritter
March 06, 2025

Welcome to the latest edition of the Red Beard Ventures newsletter, where we dive into exciting updates and insights from all over blockchain, frontier tech, and the angel investing landscape.

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

  • 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.

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

  • Denarii Labs is a tokenomics accelerator where we invest $100k into companies interested in designing and launching a token, over a twelve week hands-on program. 🚨Applications are now open for Wire Accelerator, apply here! 🚨

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🚀 RBV Spotlight:

CM.com has acquired GUTS Tickets - a pioneer in blockchain ticketing. This marks a major step toward mainstream adoption of transparent and fraud resistant event ticketing. GUTS’ cutting-edge technology, which utilizes blockchain and dynamic QR codes to prevent scalping and unauthorized resale, will now be integrated into CM.com’s global ticketing platform. This acquisition allows the founders of GUTS to fully focus on OPEN, a next generation blockchain ticketing infrastructure designed to revolutionize event access. With OPEN leading the charge, blockchain ticketing will be poised to scale and provide a more secure experience for fans and organizers worldwide.

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💼 Portfolio News:

  • Azuro, a leading prediction markets protocol, now supports onchain predictions on Base, empowering frontend applications with robust infrastructure.

  • The integration provides frontends with essential tools, liquidity, and incentives to enhance user engagement in decentralized forecasting.

  • By leveraging Base’s scalable infrastructure, Azuro continues to advance seamless and efficient prediction experiences across the ecosystem.

  • Alexandria Labs, a pioneer in web3 publishing infrastructure, is revolutionizing digital books by enabling authors and publishers to release ownable, censorship-resistant e-books.

  • To engage directly with the reading and publishing community, Alexandria’s founder, Amelie Lasker, is hosting an AMA on Farcaster’s /books channel—one of the platform’s most active literary hubs.

  • Users are encouraged to join the conversation and submit their questions, tagging Amelie to ensure she sees them. It offers a unique opportunity to explore the future of decentralized publishing, digital ownership, and the evolving e-book landscape.

  • California Cultured has opened a 12,000-square-foot facility in West Sacramento, advancing its mission to produce sustainable, cell-cultured cocoa and chocolate.

  • The company is fine-tuning scalable bioreactor techniques to compete with commodity cocoa, aiming for FDA approval this year and commercial availability by 2026.

  • With cocoa prices surging and supply chain concerns growing, California Cultured’s non-GMO, lab-grown cocoa offers a sustainable and ethical alternative for the chocolate industry.

  • Colossal Biosciences has successfully bred woolly mice by integrating woolly mammoth genes, marking a major milestone in its de-extinction efforts.

  • The gene-edited mice exhibit the mammoth’s signature long, woolly coat and accelerated fat metabolism, validating Colossal’s genetic engineering approach.

  • This breakthrough advances the company’s mission to revive the woolly mammoth by 2028, while also paving the way for future de-extinction projects, including the dodo and Tasmanian tiger.

  • PWR Chain has launched its v2 white paper, introducing new terminology to better articulate its groundbreaking approach in blockchain.

  • Unlike traditional Web3 frameworks, the updated paper bridges Web3 and Web2 concepts, making PWR Chain more accessible to a broader audience.

  • This release reinforces PWR Chain’s mission to innovate beyond conventional blockchain models and drive mainstream adoption.

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🔔 Active Investment Opportunities:

Mobot: AI Powered Robotics for Mobile App Testing

  • Mobot combines physical robots with AI automation to execute real-world mobile app testing, eliminating inefficiencies software-only solutions like Appium and Espresso cannot handle.

  • Serving 70+ enterprise clients, including Chime, LinkedIn, and Best Buy Health, Mobot has reached $4M ARR in 2024 with 70% gross margins and is on track for $6M ARR in 2025, driven by a 3.3x spend increase from existing customers.

  • Raising a $3M Series A extension with all Series A investors reinvesting; round is fully subscribed, but Mobot is making space for our syndicate.

  • Link to invest

Texas Ranchers: Building the Future of Professional Pickleball

  • Ranchers Global is a premier paddle and racquet sport conglomerate, owning the Texas Ranchers Major League Pickleball (MLP) team and strategic equity stakes in key pickleball assets, including MLP, Pickleball TV, and DUPR.

  • Since acquiring the Texas Ranchers for $5.25M in 2023, Ranchers Global has transformed the team into the most-followed, highest-valued, and highest-grossing franchise in MLP, securing league-leading sponsorships and media deals.

  • With $1M in revenue to date and projected $3.1M in 2025 revenue, Ranchers Global is capitalizing on the rapid 40% CAGR growth of pickleball, the sport's push toward Olympic recognition, and rising valuations across MLP franchises.

  • Raising a $3M Series A at a $23M pre-money valuation, with notable investors including Lil Wayne, Scottie Scheffler, Tim Tebow, Taylor Fritz, and the DeVos family. The round is in high demand, but Ranchers Global is making space for our syndicate.

  • Link to invest

Travelswap: Exclusive Expedia Crypto Partner Disrupting Travel

  • TravelSwap, an Expedia exclusive, combines travel booking with 100+ crypto payments, tokenized reservations, and rewards.

  • Impressive traction since July 2023 launch: 1,000+ bookings, 50+ B2B partners, 10k+ users (50% MoM growth), 12%+ repeat bookings.

  • 2024 plans: $TRAVL token, last-minute DEX, V2 B2B platform, expanded offerings.

  • Link to invest

PWR Labs: First Blockchain to Create Direct Interoperability with Web2

  • PWR Labs is revolutionizing blockchain infrastructure by creating direct interoperability with Web2, enabling seamless deployment of programming languages across external VMs, side chains, and smart contracts.

  • Testnet live since 2023 with various projects already building on the platform. Mainnet launch scheduled for Q4 2024. PWR Chain uniquely eliminates platform limitations, mirroring the decentralized structure of the internet.

  • $6M Pre-Seed raise via SAFT with a $90M pre-money valuation cap and token price of $0.09. 

  • Backed by notable investors including Tim Draper’s Draper Associates, Magnus Capital (Astra Protocol, Desofy), Alphabit Fund (Sire), GVG Capital, and Crypto Oasis Ventures.

  • Co-founder & CEO Melanie Mohr, serial entrepreneur with 20+ years in media and mobile technology, and Co-founder & CTO Edy Haddad, blockchain veteran with on-chain records for gas-efficient smart contracts, are leading this transformative project.

  • Link to invest

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🥳 Upcoming Events:

Some of the upcoming events you’ll find our team at include:

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Onwards 🚀

Drew, Elana, Joshua, Lauren, and Austin