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- RBV Weekly Newsletter🧔📖Week of 12/13/24
RBV Weekly Newsletter🧔📖Week of 12/13/24
Team RBV Open Deals, Portfolio Updates, Crypto News, & More
Joshua Howard
December 13, 2024
Subject: RBV Weekly Newsletter 🧔📖 Week of 12/13/24: Open Deals, Portfolio Updates, Crypto News, & More
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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.
đź“Ł 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 🚀
BasedAI completes stage 1 of Agent Arena
BasedAI is building a network of zero knowledge (zk) LLMs. Its goal is to create a self evolving platform where AI agents called “creatures” can use what are called “brains” (brains are distributed containers for specialized AI tasks) that ultimately creates a self evolving temporal transfusion network. BasedAI has completed Stage 1 in launching its Agent Arena platform. This stage includes the setup of the orchestration layer, support for ZK-LLM transactions on the L1 network, and automatic processing of emissions to all Brains, Brain Tokens, and Staked Brains. The system's balances and transactions are now stable, setting the stage for Stage 2 which will introduce developer documentation, open-source code, a new explorer, a bridge from Ethereum to $BASED, and an updated version of evolved creatures, promising a busy and $BASED holiday season.
Congrats to the team!
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Portfolio News
OORT is a decentralized verifiable cloud computing platform. Oort recently announced the commercial launch of OORT DataHub, marking a significant advancement in decentralized AI by providing trusted, decentralized datasets for training AI models. This move aims to democratize AI development by making data collection and processing more accessible and transparent.
The official launch of OORT DataHub introduces a platform where businesses, developers, and researchers can access decentralized datasets. This initiative is set to enhance the transparency and control for participants in data collection, promote global participation for diverse datasets, and integrate blockchain for ethical AI practices.
OORT plans to expand with the OORT DataHub Mini app on Telegram, making it easier for data collectors worldwide to contribute. Additionally, the launch signifies a new chapter in decentralized AI, inviting all stakeholders to join as clients, developers, or partners, thereby driving the future of trusted, data-driven AI.
Wanderlust is a visual art project where users can mint unique blocks from the Ethereum blockchain. Each block is represented visually, with different shapes symbolizing various transactions within Ethereum blocks. This project combines data visualization with art, allowing users to choose and mint blocks based on their visual appeal or personal significance.
Mintify is a trading platform for digital assets, Mintify has partnered with Wanderlust to enable trading of these NFT blocks. It offers a user-friendly interface for trading on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other blockchains, focusing on speed, usability, and a comprehensive ecosystem for digital asset trading and development.
Mintify has partnered with Wanderlust to allow users to trade Wanderlust's NFT blocks on their platform. This collaboration introduces unique mechanics for trading, where users can earn XP by trading these NFTs, enhancing user engagement and adding a gamification element to the NFT trading experience.
Layer3 provides tooling and infrastructure for advanced on-chain experiences, digital identity, and smart-contract infrastructure. Layer3 launched its token earlier this year and has seen impressive traction, currently reaching ~$20mm in ARR.
Google Cloud Web3 Platform is now accessible through Layer3, offering developers access to cutting-edge tools, APIs, and analytics to boost their on-chain project development.
Partnership with Google Cloud means developers can leverage BigQuery datasets for blockchain analytics, enhancing scalability and data insights for their projects.
Shardeum is a blockchain platform aiming for scalability through dynamic state sharding, allowing for the creation of multiple shards as transaction volume increases, ensuring low transaction fees and high throughput.
Shardeum's Atomium stage 3 incentivized testnet has concluded with over 18 million transactions and nearly 100,000 participants. This testnet stage was designed to simulate the mainnet environment, allowing for thorough testing of Shardeum's features to ensure a smooth transition to the mainnet.
Shardeum will be rolling out exciting updates following the successful completion of Stage 3, including enhancements to the network's infrastructure, potential new features, and further stages of the incentivized testnet to refine the system for the mainnet launch.
Dfns is a leading Wallet-as-a-Service platform known for simplifying digital asset management for financial institutions. It now supports Ice Open Network (ION), enhancing wallet functionalities with features like automatic token detection and secure transaction handling.
Dfns has integrated ION into its platform, marking ION as a Tier-1 blockchain, enhancing user capabilities with features like automatic token detection and secure transaction management.
Built on TON by Telegram, ION focuses on decentralization and privacy with innovations like ION ID for authenticated, privacy-first interactions and ION Vault for secure data storage.
3DOS, the world's largest decentralized 3D printing network has partnered with Quboid, a rewards settlement and liquidity layer. Quboid leverages blockchain technology to enhance loyalty and engagement through customizable token systems, while 3DOS allows users to earn rewards by engaging in 3D printing activities.
This partnership introduces an exciting reward for the community: a 3D printed Kratos sculpture, showcasing the integration of unique rewards with blockchain loyalty. Rewards can be displayed on brands.fun.
Learn more here and congrats to the team!
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đź”” Active Investment Opportunities:
Webacy: Building the "Norton" for Web3 | Backed by Quantstamp, VaynerFund, and Soma | SAFE + Token Warrant $WBCY
Webacy is redefining blockchain security with its SafetyScore™ APIs and Safety Suite, empowering users and developers to protect assets and assess wallet safety in real time.
Platform secures $2B+ in assets, scans 10M+ wallets monthly, and generates 2M wallet safety notifications/month, with projected $3M ARR by 2025.
Positioned to dominate the $58.86B blockchain security market by 2032, with tools embedded in partners like Etherscan, OKX Explorer, and Revoke.cash.
Operating as a consumer-first, chain-agnostic platform, Webacy outpaces competitors like Blockaid by integrating proactive wallet management and risk monitoring.
Led by CEO Maika Isogawa (Stanford CS, Forbes 30 Under 30, ex-Microsoft cybersecurity) and CTO Vincent Chan, the team combines technical excellence with a focus on Web3 safety innovation.
Seasats: Autonomous Maritime Vehicles for Ocean Monitoring and Defense | Backed by Shield Capital and L3Harris
Seasats is redefining ocean operations with Lightfish, a cost-effective, autonomous surface vehicle trusted by high-profile clients like the U.S. Navy and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Revenue projected to grow from $1.7M in 2023 → $4M in 2024 → $12M by EO’25, with a clear path to $30M–$50M annually and upside to surpass $100M/year through DoD contracts
Trusted by customers including Navy Special Warfare, Task Force 59, and NIWC, with multiple deployments in the Middle East
Operating costs at just $1,604/day, significantly undercutting competitors like Saildrone ($5,338/day) and traditional vessels
Against legacy defense and maritime players like Huntington Ingalls Industries ($8B) and innovative upstarts like Saildrone (valued at $1B), Seasats offers substantial upside from our $70M post-money valuation entry price.
Dentity: Consumer-First Digital Identity on Web3 Infrastructure | Backed by Blockchange Ventures and Kleiner Perkins
Dentity is building a secure, consumer-controlled digital identity solution on Web3, using open standards to empower individuals to manage their online credentials independently.
$3M Seed extension financing via SAFE with a $30M post-money valuation cap and token warrant
Backed by top-tier investors: Blockchange Ventures (Solana, Filecoin), Kleiner Perkins (Figma, Snap), Capital Factory, Nural Capital, and AARP
Expanded from 5,000 to 50,000 identity wallets in 2023; targeting 500,000 wallets in 2024, with projections for 5 million wallets and over 60 million verified attributes and attestations by 2025
Led by experienced founder: CEO Jeffrey Schwartz, who has founded, led, and been a director at over a dozen public and private companies, including Autobytel, Autoweb, and CarParts.com. He also serves as ambassador chairman of the Decentralized Identity Foundation
Dentity’s infrastructure is already being used by 100+ enterprises, creating a consumer-controlled identity ecosystem that fosters trust and data security across digital platforms.
Monoquant: Revolutionizing Quantitative Trading for Crypto
Monoquant is developing an AI-powered platform that democratizes quantitative trading in the $2.1T cryptocurrency market, allowing investors at all levels to create, backtest, and deploy automated trading strategies.
Impressive data moat covering 60% of DeFi and 70% of CeFi markets, with over 4 trillion data points.
Secured broker agreements with major exchanges (OKX, Binance, Crypto.com, Bybit, MEXC) spanning ~85% of CEX volume.
Backed by Cherry Street Digital Assets Fund and Alumni Ventures.
Raising a pre-seed round at an attractive $20M post-money valuation cap with SAFE + token warrant. $MONQ token with 15% unlock at TGE, 3-month cliff, 12-month linear vesting.
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.
SatRepublic: Leading Ordinals Studio Launches tool for collectors and developers
SatRepublic, the Ordinals Studio behind Pizza Artifacts, SatScribe is launching Runevo, a mobile-first infrastructure designed to enable users to transact, monitor, trade, and snipe Runes, Rare Stats, and Ordinals.
Pizza Artifacts, the first historical collection of Ordinals fully inscribed on the exotic 'pizza' Sats from the pizza transaction of May 22, 2010, trading at 25x mint; SatScribe, the first public platform for inscribing on rare and exotic Sats, which has done over 150k paid inscriptions for users; and Runevo, a collection of 6.025 pre-rune Ordinals that sold out in under 24 hours to raise $1.4mm USD, or 17.4 BTC.
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🥳 Upcoming Events:
Events are a great way to stay informed in our industry, so we have had a very full 2024. We would love to hear about any other conferences you will be attending or the remainder of this year, so please let us know as we are still planning our event calendar!
Stay tuned for updates on future events, and until then, keep spreading joy and positivity in our community!
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🤝 We are also looking for part-time 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, Joshua, and Lauren