Crypto Valley Venture Capital launches in heart of Swiss Crypto Valley

In the last few years, the area between the Swiss cities of Zug and Zurich has established itself as a major blockchain player, becoming home to over 600 companies associated with the technology.

Lakeside Partners, a startup investor and blockchain advisory company based in Zug, has been developing its own ecosystem including co-working space, startup competitions, industry summits and ties to leading Swiss politicians and institutions. It has screened more than 1,000 startups over the last 18 months.

It says that CV VC – Crypto Valley Venture Capital – is a logical continuation of these activities. “The time is ripe for CV VC,” says Mathias Ruch, Founder/Managing Partner at Lakeside Partners and Founder/CEO of CV VC: “After the initial phase of pioneers, traditional investors and big players of the ‘old economy’ are starting to take note. Analysts now speak of a new dawn for the industry, with serious companies, serious people and serious money coming into the space.”

Funding, education, mentoring

CV VC will invest a fixed amount of seed funding ($125K) in a number of promising early stage blockchain companies in return for equity or tokens.

Participants in the CV Labs programme will benefit from funding, education and coaching, the CV Labs network, workspace, shared living space and a series of events in the heart of Crypto Valley. Among the confirmed mentors and special guests are Nicole Anderson (Redsand), Ramon Recuero (ex-Ycombinator), Mona El Isa (Melonport), Stephan Karpischek (Etherisk), Daniel Qin (wecash) and Guenther Dobrauz (Lawyer, VC Investor).

The three founders of Lakeside Partners and CV VC are Mathias Ruch (CEO, Board Member), Marco Bumbacher (Chairman) and Ralf Glabischnig (Board Member). Olaf Hannemann, a corporate finance veteran who has worked at JPMorgan, has joined as CIO. He is also a Co-founder.

Other Co-founders include the following investors: Daniel Grossen (Scout 24, Grossen Invest), Christian Jaag (Swiss Economics, Center for Crypto Economics), Alex Wassmer (Kibag, Club zum Rennweg) and Lorenz Furrer (furrerhugi, Swiss Blockchain Taskforce). “Since I’m an entrepreneur deeply rooted in the old economy, I found CV VC to be the perfect platform to invest in blockchain technology,” says Wassmer.

CV VC’s investment division will consist of three pillars, each covering a specific stage of the current blockchain and crypto development cycle: incubation, pre-ICO und post-ICO investments. Plans are afoot to deploy CV Labs hubs in various global locations.