In early spring 2018, three visionaries, entrepreneurs and Blockchain enthusiasts embarked on a new journey in the Crypto Valley. In the midst of the ICO Hype Cycle and with everyone in it craving some structure and a more serious approach, the Cryptovalley Labs co-working space was born. The dedicated co-working hub for Blockchain projects, services and startups was founded by Mathias Ruch, who is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor as well as Marco Bumbacher and Ralf Glabischnig, who founded inacta, a digital transformation consulting company with a focus on Blockchain technology.
Early Beginnings: Launching Switzerland’s first Crypto Co-Working Space
In the beginning, there were only two floors: A small crypto café, a co-working floor that could easily be turned into an event space and the first floor with private offices.
With the ICO and blockchain startup funding hype in full bloom, the co-working hub quickly became the go-to place for entrepreneurs and startups frm all over the world, with people showing up unanounced, in search of the globally known Crypto Valley. This led to a number of genesis partners pledging their support for the development of a robust and sustainable ecosystem: Meyerlustenberger Lachenal, Narwal PR, PwX, Lawshift, Wenger &Vieli, Alfred Müller, F10, the canton of Zug, the city of Zug, Widder Gastro and Nord Home.
The opening of Switzerland’s first blockchain focused co-working hub was the first step towards a comprehensive blockchain-specialized venture capital company. It became clear, that Cryptovalley Labs was designed to be more than just a co-working space for the crypto community. Zug is a global Blockchain and crypto “have-to-be-there” hub with a natural deal flow of over 2,000 projects per year. And the vast majority of these projects end up in Zug and on CV VC’s desks.
Stronger Together — Unifying Initiatives With CV VC
Shortly after, in September 2018, CV VC, which stands for Crypto Valley Venture Capital was born to unify all initiatives under one roof — figuratively and metaphorically speaking. Cryptovalley Labs was rebranded into CV Labs and other brands and initiatives followed that lead: The Blockchain Summit became CV Summit, Blockchain Competition became CV Competition and Crypto Valley Maps turned into CV Maps. All brands became uniform, nicely nested under the CV VC mothership.
By the end of September 2018 CV Labs reached another important milestone: CV Labs expanded its floor space in Zug to 3 floors. This allowed the co-working hub to attract more startups and entrepreneurs with more co-working spaces, private offices and meeting rooms. CV Labs morphed into the formidable blockchain ecosystem for all relevant stakeholders. Startups, projects, investors, corporates, service providers, academia, reserches, gorverments, associations and everyone who was curious to dive into the fascinating industry that is blockchain.
Switzerland’s First Blockchain Incubation Program
By the end of 2018, the CV Labs team was in full swing planning Switzerland’s first startup incubation program with a focus on Blockchain technology. In only six months, the team built out a blockchain-dedicated program from the ground up and managed to get the global community excited about it. The ten-weeks program is specifically aumed at early stage Blockchain startups and covers essential topics in both tech and business. The first batch of incubatees launched at the end of April 2019, with startups from all over the world graduating on July 4th, 2019.
Since an incubation program with 12 startups relocating to CV Labs isn’t enough to keep the team busy, other initiatives took place simultaneously, such as two CV Summits with over 1,000 attendees, two CV Competitions and the opening of the last floor of the CV Labs building. The top floor at CV Labs now boasts an event hall, capable of holding up to 150 people. The Liquid Lounge is fully equipped to host large scale events and meetups, such as the CV Competition for Real Estate TOP10 finals. The incubation program’s demo was also held there and attracted around 100 investors.
As the floor space was expanding, so did the number of tenants. Some of the most prominent ones being Tezos, Cardano Foundation, Lisk Foundation, Zulu Republic / LITE.IM and others.
Starting the Next Chapter with Bitcoin Suisse, GWP, Green Datacenters and Swiss Post
In the past few months CV Labs partnered up with companies such as Bitcoin Suisse, GWP, Green Datacenters and the Swiss Post. CV Labs welcomes its new partners to its ever-increasing list of blockchain-dedicated service providers, such as PwC, MLL, Fineac and Lawshift. Together with its partners CV Labs fosters the blockchain ecosystem by hosting an array of industry events, from Wine and Vision — a bi-weekly networking meetup, to CV Summit — a CV Labs flagship event, which happens twice a year and travels to international happenings, such as the Singapore FinTech Festival and the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.
“Building up successful ecosystems takes time. We believe that the Swiss blockchain ecosystem, Crypto Valley has matured over the years. It is time for us to venture out in other blockchain ecosystems around the globe, together with our partners.”
— Ralf Glabischnig, CV VC’s Founding Partner and Board Member, who oversees CV Labs Ecosystem Development
Today, CV Labs is the blockchain-dedicated co-working space, with more than 130 startups registered at its premises. The co-working hub offers variety of services, such as incubation for early-stage startups, excubation services for corporate clients, blockchain and enterprenuership education modules, events and content marketing, aimed at positioning blockchain companies within the ecosystem and advisory services, with an aim to help blockchain companies set up shop in the heart of the Crypto Valley, Zug.
What Lies Ahead
Looking to the future, CV Labs is going global this year. The co-working space has announced a list of new locations in a bid to go global this year. CV Labs second location opens its doors on October 1st and is located in Vaduz, Liechtenstein. Further expansion plans until the end of 2019 include locations and presence in Asia, the Middle East, the US and Europe.
“It is important for CV Labs to venture out to new ecosystems. We strive to become a truly global blockchain hub for startups and other stakeholders. We look forward to exploring new opportunities that lay outside the borders of the Crypto Valley.” — Pavel Jakovlev, Managing Director at CV Labs and Head of Ecosystem Growth at CV VC
Join CV VC and CV Labs on this journey:
- Startups — become part of the truly unique blockchain ecosystem — come to CV Labs
- Investors — get access to a unique deal flow
- Corporates — join us on our deep dive into the blockchain technology and be the first to know what comes next
- Service providers — expose your services to the unique opportunities the blockchain ecosystem has to offer
- Researchers — collaborate from the heart of the crypto valley
- Governments and associations — exchange ideas on best practices and thought-leadership and foster the dialogue with the people who are building the future
Today, 18 months after Cryptovalley Labs — now CV Labs — opened its doors, we are just getting started.
