Welcome, former Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann
This is a big step for CV VC and the Crypto Valley. Two successful entrepreneurs and former members of governments have decided in these difficult times for startups to become members of the Board of Directors of CV CV: Anne Berner, who we have already introduced here, and Johann Schneider-Ammann, the former Swiss President and Minister of Economic Affairs. We are happy about this news in two ways: On the one hand, this is Schneider-Ammann’s first mandate since his resignation from the Swiss government a year and a half ago, on the other hand he makes a clear commitment to blockchain technology and thus to our business model.
His fascination with Distributed Ledger Technology was evident during his first visit to Crypto Valley in 2017, when the government of Zug asked us to organize an afternoon event for the Federal Council delegation with representatives of the Crypto Valley startup ecosystem. I was impressed by the way Schneider-Amman approached the blockchain pioneers and showed interest in the technology and business models. The graduate of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich was in his element as an entrepreneur and politician. He was curious and fascinated by technology-driven innovation and blockchain. A little later, based on our initiative, he launched the Blockchain Taskforce at the beginning of 2018 together with Finance Minister Ueli Maurer, from which the Swiss Blockchain Federation emerged, and proclaimed the Crypto Nation Switzerland. He was aware that something big was happening in Switzerland and that Crypto Valley needed to be supported by politics, business, society and science with ideal framework conditions and regulations.
“Security, transparency, openness and decentralization are the essential attributes of blockchain technology and Switzerland.”
Schneider-Ammann embodies the virtues of Switzerland, which basically also make up the DNA of blockchain. Switzerland is a federal, largely decentralized country. Although there is a national government in Berne, the real political power lies in the cantons and the municipalities. This guarantees security and stability as well as checks and balances. Moreover, as a small country without natural resources (except water), Switzerland is also dependant on innovation. In other words, it needs good ideas and clever minds. The result is a large number of very successful companies and corporations as well as universities. Switzerland has also always been cosmopolitan. When you put all these elements together, the result is an ideal breeding ground for blockchain: security, transparency, openness and decentralization are the essential attributes of blockchain technology and Switzerland. Blockchain can be regarded as the “technological incarnation” of the Swiss concept of state. The driving idea behind Blockchain is a combination of freedom and security, independence and decentralization. Schneider-Ammann told me in a conversation: “I am convinced that it is no coincindence that Crypto Valley has established itself in Switzerland.”
The Corona Pandemic became a test case for digital technologies and has triggered a further global digitalization push. There are still some technological challenges, such as electronic identity, secure data transmission or cyberattacks, for which innovative solutions are being sought. We are convinced that blockchain technology will play a crucial role here. This is also reflected in our investment approach, where we focus on six verticals called T4T — Technology for Tomorrow: E-Commerce & Logistics, Cyber Security & Digital ID, Education & Science, Future of Work, Finance & Investing and Lifestyle & Health.
Together with our strong Board of Directors, which includes former Finnish minister and entrepreneur Anne Berner, we will do everything in our power to ensure that the most promising startups in which we invest and which we advise on an ongoing basis get off the ground. That they provide solutions to the most pressing challenges of today and tomorrow and that they finally help blockchain technology to achieve a breakthrough and mass application.
