RBV Weekly Newsletter🧔📖Week of 4/5/23

Open Deals, Portfolio Updates, Crypto News, RBV Fund I Closing & More

Author

Joshua Howard
April 05, 2024

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.

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RBV Media

In this week we have the amazing panel discussion between the RBV partners Drew Austin and Elana Gold, joined by Max Frenkel (GP, Gaingels) and Daniel Gould (Venture Partner, Asymmetry Ventures).  They discuss LP expectations, addressing “investor fatigue”, and building tools in the AI space.

Join us for a weekly dose of investing knowledge and industry expertise.  Subscribe now! →  @red-beard-radio @FewPod

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RBV Spotlight

Binance, the world's leading cryptocurrency exchange, has just announced the launch of Saga (SAGA) on its prestigious Launchpool platform. As the 51st project to be featured, SAGA is revolutionizing the way appchains are created, and the hotly anticipated token launch will coincide with listings on the exchange.

Starting from April 5th, 00:00 (UTC), you can stake your BNB and FDUSD in separate pools to farm SAGA tokens over a four-day period. With 45M SAGA tokens (4.5% of max token supply) up for grabs as rewards and an initial circulating supply of 90M SAGA (9% of max token supply), this is an opportunity you won't want to miss.

Binance's endorsement of SAGA speaks volumes about the project's potential, and the exchange will list SAGA at April 9th, 14:00 (UTC), opening trading in denominations of /BTC, /USDT, /BNB, /FDUSD, and /TRY. By participating in the Launchpool, you can accumulate and claim rewards directly to your spot accounts at any time during the farming period from April 5th to April 8th.  More about SAGA’s launch and airdrop can be found in this tweet thread: Introduction to SAGA.

Note: Binance is not available to persons in the US region

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Portfolio News

  • Anduril’s “Framework” enables RCV navigation, autonomous role swapping, and equipment management

  • RCVs are part of Army's Next Generation Combat Vehicle overhaul

  • Developing a robust integration framework is critical to the success of the RCV program

  • Their first game - still in invite-only Beta - pushed a new update to their play testers

  • The updates include the addition of voice chat, new races and shortcuts, new cars, a testnet rewards system, and updated leveling mechanics

  • Those looking to become playtesters can apply in their Discord: WilderWorld

  • Live betting poses challenges like real-time data processing, odds adjustment, and liquidity management

  • Network latency and scalability issues add complexity to live betting integration

  • Azuro's smart contracts – HostCore, LiveCore, and Relayer – handle live event updates and state changes

  • Similar to ENS, this registry sits on top MEOWchain as a “meta-chain”

  • The ZID can be used across the ecosystem as a decentralized identity

  • ZID can be used in place of a public key string, making them mnemonic and human-readable

  • This listing follows successful listings on major exchanges, expanding options for investors

  • LCX offers a platform for trading digital currencies, built with advanced compliance features for the EU market

  • Users with the BCUT/EUR pair, allowing easy buying and selling using fiat Euros

  • The Premier League draft picks took place on April 3rd, with the Ranchers winning the 7, 15, 30, and 41 spots

  • Players chosen were Christian Alshon, Etta Wright, Tina Pisnik, and Pablo Tellez, respectively

  • The #1 spot was taken by Seattle Pioneers, spending almost their entire Draft Point budget for Ben Johns (remaining spots were 43, 44, and 47)

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đź”” Active Investment Opportunities:

3DOS: the Amazon Marketplace of 3D-printed items

  • They have already developed a software (3DPrinterOS) to network 3D printers, used by 290k designers globally

  • 3DOS is building a blockchain-secured network of professional and hobbyist printers to replace the logistics of small printable item manufacturing and shipping

  • Backed by NGC Ventures, Escape Velocity, Modular Capital, and more

  • Link to invest

LayerZero Labs: highly sought-after secondary shares+token warrant

  • One of our most prized investments has given us the opportunity to syndicate a secondaries shares sale

  • We have a $400k allocation, at the same valuation as their last round ($3B FDV)

  • TGE is scheduled for June 2024, 1 year cliff, 2 year monthly vesting

  • Link to invest

Mintify: a Bloomberg Terminal for tokenized economies

  • They have built a highly modular system for complex traders and professionals working in the space

  • Mintify was built for cross-chain interoperability, API and SDK support, and scalable architecture

  • Backed by Alchemy Ventures, GSR, and Master Ventures

  • Link to invest

Rational Vaccines: developing solutions to globally debilitating problems

  • They are revolutionizing the vaccine industry and developing an HSV vaccine that can impact 4.5 BILLION people globally

  • RVx is using cutting edge technology to edit virus genes, making them harmless

  • Backed by Thiel Capital, Presight Capital, The Madden Family Funds, and more

  • Link to invest

Heights Labs: taking blockchain investigations from days to minutes

  • Their revolutionary AI-backed FLOWS technology digests billions of blockchain connections to find the endpoint of criminal activity

  • In pilot programs with many federal and local law enforcement agencies, totaling over $170M+ in the pipeline

  • Backed by Coinbase Ventures, Pantera Capital, Narcissus Ventures, and more

  • Link to invest

BioFire: the world’s first usable biometric smart gun system

  • BioFire uses facial recognition and fingerprint biometrics to ensure the gun cannot be removed or fired unless by an authorized person

  • Round led by Founders Fund, Valhalla Ventures, Draper Associates, and more

  • Shipping their flagship product in the next four weeks; this round will close before then!

  • Link to invest

Travelswap: Denarii Labs Alumni and the Only Crypto-Native Expedia Partner

  • Building the lowest-cost and -friction crypto travel platform, with future token plans developed by Denarii 

  • Backed by RBV and angels, the platform is already post-revenue

  • Link to invest

Atmos Labs: Web3 Gaming Developer Powerhouse

  • This is the seed extension, receiving both equity and tokens, is supporting the 2024 launch of their flagship game, ExoGP

  • Atomos is building a narrative and economic ecosystem around their game series IP

  • Led by Sora Ventures, Sfermion, GSR, Tectona, and more

  • Link to invest

BrandGuard: Safety rails for AI generated content

  • This brand governance platform is able to ensure an AI agent will never generate embarrassing or inaccurate content on behalf of the brand

  • In pilot programs with Amazon, Meta, ThermoFischer, Colgate, Little Caesar’s, and more

  • Backers include Bee partners, Frfly, Argon, Relay Ventures, and Baselayer Ventures

  • Link to invest

FranShares: Fixing the Franchise Model

  • They are fixing the operator-to-franchisee model by applying an equity share and crowdfunding model

  • Live today, FranShares has already facilitated $18M in investments with a pipeline of $200M more

  • Backers include Chicago Ventures, VU Venture Partners, and Shawntae Spencer 

  • Link to invest

Deep6 AI: Clinical Trials at Turbo Speed using AI

  • The costliest and longest bottleneck of bringing new health treatments to market is being accelerated by their AI matching system

  • By speeding this delay, Deep6 is able to save billions in revenue, massive drug cost increases, and potentially hundreds or even thousands of lives

  • Backed by Point72, GSR Ventures, Samsung NEXT, 3M ventures, and more

  • Link to invest

Versus Game: Gamified Ads Using Gen-AI

  • This B2B tech helps media, publishers, and brands use generative AI to make interactive content

  • Eric Schmidt, investor and board member, said “This is the most powerful real-world AI application” he’s seen

  • Almost 1000 digital media partners including Forbes, USA Today, ESPN, ABC, Microsoft, and more

  • Link to invest

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🥳 Upcoming Events: 

Events are a great way to stay informed in our industry, so we are planning for a very full 2024. 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! 

Wilder World x RBV event at NFT NYC - April 4, 7:30PM

If you know anything about RBV events, you know this is certainly NOT one to miss!  

A Note to Guests:

- No +1s, must RSVP

- 100 guest limit

- We will start at 7:30pm sharp

- First come first serve until we reach our capacity at 100 guests

- Registration is not your confirmation, keep your eye out for a confirmation email

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🤝 We are hiring! 

Red Beard Ventures is seeking a Venture Capital Intern to join our team. The intern will focus on identifying and evaluating potential investment opportunities, writing deal memos, and helping with the operations of the syndicate and fund. This internship spans 6 to 12 months, requiring at least 20 hours per week of remote work. For those interested in this position, here is a link to our application.

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, Mitchell, and LaurenÂ