I'd like to share a little about my fundraising efforts for Veritaseum, one of the most exciting, disruptive and likely controversial start-ups in the FinTech space... ever.
Veritaseum is the company behind my brainchild, "UltraCoin". For those who don't know, UltraCoin utilizes the technology behind the Bitcoin blockchain to create unbreachable contracts and unbreakable promises which can then be programmed to mimic the functions of practically any business that entails the transfer of value... Essentially any business. it does so with more trust, more safety, more flexibility and less cost than any legacy situation that makes heavy use of middlemen that extract rents in exchange for questionable value add.
I believe that this "invention" is likely the economic and paradigm shredding equivalent of the advent of the Internet, simply on larger scale. First, there's the sheet potential of scale for Bitcoin, and the precedent of its predecessor and compatriot in protocol-based disintermediation, the Internet...
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Second is our patent pending value transfer technology embedded into the blockchain itself. It, in a nutshell, totally and absolutely disintermediates banks, brokerages and exchanges through the use of these programmable "unbreakable promises"...
Most with just slight modicum of imagination and insight would be hard pressed not to be exicted, or at the very least, extremely curious about these new technologies, products and services. This is particularly true since the financial services sector is so ripe for disintermediation - reference BitLicense Part 4: Fact- Bank Product Prices Rise Faster Than Income & ALL Other Expenses, Fact- UltraCoin Can Drop Bank Product Prices Dramatically [7].
Alas, I have received practically no attention from the traditional VC community and even less from the Bitcoin community, and this is despite a sterling track record of calling paradigm shifts such as this one [8], patents pending and the first functional product in the industry.
So, what is a middle-aged nascent entrepenuer to do? There actually is a meaningful pool of potential investors who do see value in what I described above. My ex-client and subscriber base. Many of my followers have taken it upon themselves to autonomously approach me for investment, including prominent UHNW families (globally known), technology entrepreneurs with recent liquidity events ($600M+), and long time readers who have connections. I'll share the story of one such long time (since 2009) reader below.
Of the early seed investors, this British chap was actually the first to send in money. He called and said he heard me say i was starting a bitcoin-based company and said he wanted to invest. I told him I have another seed investment coming and I was closing the valuation in this round. He wired the money from overseas in less than 48 hours. I was impressed. He used to run a fund-of-funds marketing company and told me that he had many powerful contacts in the UK. I was reluctant at first, and uber-busy. I had just secured verbal commitments for $12 million (on a $4M round) when this chap finally convinced me to swin across the pond. I'll be honest, I was reluctant. So, there I was, arriving at Picadilly Circus going down to the Royal Automotive Club where he arranged for me to stay and have my first introductory meeting with him and his associate.
This is olde English money, and quite a lovely place to boot. So, jet-lagged, and with much work to do in a place that doesn't allow computer or cell phone use in any of the public areas (yes, quite old school) I meet in the dining area...
We go over the string of meeting that have been set up and the "Thought Leader's dinner" that has been setup up on my behalf as the keynote speaker. The first two meetings were one's that I set up myself from the states through my contacts from India and Wall Street banks. They third stop was to drop off some coins in the Thames River, just under London Bridge. Guess who caught them???
Expect one helluva show when this airs. That's all I've got to say on that topic for now. After a couple of more meetings I headed over to the Cavalry & Guards Club on Piccadilly for the dinner. An interesting, old money club that is steeped in English military history.
The dinner began with quick tutorial on the history of the club and its importance re: the battle of Waterloo, etc. The dinner included over 40 extremely interesting people. Here's the place setting before we got started - each and everyone of the invtees placed at the table appeared. Standing room only - and all to hear what yours truly had to say about Bitcoin's investment potential.
The room was packed with brainpower - packed! Since they are big on privacy, I will not reveal names, but I can reveal statistics. Over $35 Billion dollars of assets under management directly controlled by the people sitting in those seats. Over $1.2 Trillion controlled by the corporate entities that they represented. Industries included banking, asset management, insurance, real estate, telecomm, energy, commodities trading and medical. Nearly half were successful serial entrepeneurs in their own right, with several having had their own multiple liquidity events. Even a member from the Bitcoin foundation was present. The vast majority were bitcoin skeptical. As for my presentation??? Let's say there's some big money, some olde money, and some money that many thought would never flow into this space any time soon that is quite anxious to investigate crashing the party.
Between Europe and the US, I plan on raising the largest investment to ever go into a distributed trust (the core tech behind bitcoin) ever!