Blockchain Valley Ventures gears up for new fund launch

Update (16/04/2020): this article was amended to reflect the fact that the fund is still in pre-marketing, as PPMs haven't yet been issued

PPMs have not been sent out yet, although BVV has already received relevant soft commitments from non-European investors, according to Zetlmayer.

BVV initially forecasted a first closing in Q3 2020, but Zetlmayer anticipates delays due to the coronavirus crisis. Should economic disruption be limited and the healthcare picture improve relatively quickly, he expects the situation to start improving in May or in June – assuming that at that point either some restrictions on social distancing will have been reduced and face-to-face meetings could resume, or investors will have learned to close deals with virtual interactions.

Zetlmayer did not disclose the size of the fund. The size of BVV's first fund is also undisclosed.

The fund is open to corporate investors that are most likely to be affected by, and become users of, technologies such as blockchain and fintech. Targeted LPs also include family offices, institutional investors, venture capital arms of pension funds, and high-net-worth individuals.

The fund will be used to invest in series-A or series-B rounds of companies in the blockchain and fintech sectors. BVV aims to do the first investment by the end of this year, Zetlmayer added. Single investments will be between $1-3m for series-A rounds and between $3-5m for series-Bs.

While Europe is expected to be its core market, BVV will look to invest globally, favouring syndicated transactions with other established co-investors, especially outside of Europe. Zetlmayer said there are 12,000 blockchain companies in the world and there are interesting players in the UK, Switzerland and the US, but very interesting opportunities are also coming from other regions such as Germany, France, Australia and Singapore. BVV's investment horizon is three to seven years.

Founded in 2018, BVV is a spinout from Lykke Corporation, a global trading platform based on blockchain technology. It is owned by its founders and its team. Its current portfolio includes UK-based Coinfirm, Veratrak, Measure and Keyless; Switzerland-based Algotrader, Teleport and Ebakus; and Dutch firm Peddler.

Headquartered in Switzerland, BVV has offices or representatives in Singapore, the Silicon Valley and Germany. It has been part of the Draper Venture Network since September 2016.

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