Dear Friends and Family,

Spring has arrived on our side of the globe, and we're embracing the spirit of "Aufbruchstimmung", a beautiful German term capturing the essence of venturing into new frontiers with optimism. And isn’t that what investing in Web3 is all about?

Here is what we have been up to lately:

Crypto Asset Conference 2023A

Last week, we attended the Crypto Asset Conference at the Frankfurt School, where we connected with our portfolio startups, current and potential LPs, and many friends & business partners from the blockchain community.

Kudos to Philipp Sandner, founder of the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center, for organizing another insightful event featuring keynotes and panel discussions from dawn till dusk.

I had the pleasure of hosting a panel on "Predicting the Future of Crypto Assets" with Ulli Spankowski (Börse Stuttgart Digital), Masud Sultan (ITSA), Alexander Balzer (atfinity), and Jamiel Sheikh (instamint) joining us from New York via live-stream. The full video is available on our website.

The Crypto Asset Conference reinforced our impression of the financial industry's commitment to the blockchain, as major players like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan described using permissioned chains for US regulatory reasons, while Ramin Ghafari from Siemens showcased their bond issuance based on the public Polygon chain.

To encapsulate the conference in a single sentence, I'd borrow one of the speaker’s words: "The era of proof of concept is over. We are now constructing blockchain-based systems to supplant our outdated technology."

After years of dialogue and experimentation, it's evident that the financial industry is wholeheartedly embracing blockchain.

The conversation has shifted from questioning its viability to acknowledging the benefits of eliminating intermediaries, expediting transaction settlements, enhancing information access, and reducing costs.

The focus is now on choosing the right standards and executing a seamless transition.

This progress is a monumental leap compared to earlier debates.

While we can argue about Bitcoin or dubious token schemes, the broader application of blockchain technology based on Ethereum and similar technologies is already happening.

Though crypto, blockchain, and web3 advancements may not be as obvious as internet platforms or mobile phones, the impact on backend systems is equally profound.

On a societal level, however, it raises a question: As blockchain streamlines backend operations and AI automates front-end processes, how will the financial sector's workforce evolve over the next decade or two?

Away from the main conference hall events, I enjoyed a long talk with Christoph Jentzsch from corpus.ventures, who was part of the Ethereum core team in 2014 and most famously built the TheDAO, which was later spectacularly hacked.

I asked him what he believed the outstanding feature of blockchain technology was that would make it a lasting innovation, and his answer was clear: The a) interoperability of the Web3 ecosystem and b) digital ownership without intermediaries have always been the key pillars.

And while a DAO or blockchain architecture may not be the solution to every problem, there are plenty of use cases where it makes perfect sense to be open-minded.

The financial services industry exemplifies this transformation, making it all the more compelling to hear insights from industry leaders.

Returning home on Thursday night, I felt energized and full of "Aufbruchstimmung" for our Web3 investment strategy.

Portfolio Updates

Our portfolio company "Proof" continues its quest to provide next-generation tools for end-to-end ESG & Impact data management with a strong tailwind coming from the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).

We couldn't be more proud of Fleur Heyns, Kevin Pettit, and all their wonderful colleagues for setting up the tools that allow companies to strategize, connect, analyze and report their impact metrics in a coherent and actionable way.

Gathering impact data is an issue that many companies are struggling with, sometimes resulting in misguided priorities and actions that are closer to "greenwashing" than having a real impact on ESG objectives.

Proof provides real and near-time insights through clever analytics tools, data visualization, and contextual perspectives, which is a huge help for all companies where SFDR is relevant.

If you haven't heard of Proof before, you should visit their website.

Dinner & Wine April: "Web3 Venture Capital" in Neustadt on April 27

Our partner Ulrich Spindler and founder of Medpex (exited to Zur Rose Group in 2020), will host another of his famous "Dinner & Wine" events in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse (about one hour drive from Frankfurt/Main) on April 27 at 18h.

The evening will bring together builders, founders, and venture capital fund investors to discuss opportunities in the Web3 space and, most importantly, to build a network of open-minded and entrepreneurial people.

Our special guest will be Alex Höptner, the ex-CEO of Börse Stuttgart and BitMEX and a strong advocate of the potential of tokenization for financial markets. He will talk about his latest endeavors in his usual entertaining style.

And we, as BFC, will also give a short glimpse of what we see in the market and what areas we are placing our bets on.

Ulrich's event is free of charge but is limited to forty people and requires a reservation and confirmation.

If you are in the region and interested in Web3 venture capital investing, this event is an excellent opportunity to share notes and learn. And the food is always delicious!

Best to reserve your spot right away.

Recommended

For those intrigued by the gaming industry's developments and long-term trajectory, we highly recommend subscribing to Konvoy's newsletter.

As a venture capital firm, Konvoy specializes in investing at the cutting edge of gaming—a market boasting an audience of three billion. We're honored to have joined forces with Konvoy in our investment in The Mirror.

Under the leadership of Josh Chapman, the Konvoy team meticulously distills their industry insights into a succinct, easily digestible editorial that offers tremendous value to anyone in the gaming sphere.

We’re fundraising

We continue our fundraising efforts after our first closing in March with private (semi-) professional investors, family offices, and funds of funds. We are targeting our next closing for May.

If you know someone who might be interested in our fund, please don't hesitate to connect us via email or feel free to make a direct warm intro.

We’re investing

We're always on the lookout for founders leveraging Web3 tech to solve problems 10x better, faster, or cheaper, and if you should come across a great team in this space, we would love to hear about them.

Thanks for reading!

Wolfgang, Ben, and Sagar