Earlybird Venture Capital Co-founder, Dr. Christian Nagel, on his Decision to Invest in Protos

Christian is Co-Founder and Partner at Earlybird Venture Capital.

He has more than 20 years of investment experience and backed renown companies such as Interhyp (Prime Standard Frankfurt Exchange: IYP), Tipp24 (Prime Standard Frankfurt Exchange: TIM), N26 (Berlin), Fraugster (Berlin) and cryptocurrency exchange Shapeshift (Switzerland).

We asked Christian to share his opinion on crypto and why he has decided to privately invest in Protos.

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How would you characterize your experience in the blockchain space?

At Earlybird we have been active in the blockchain space and plan to expand our efforts as the ecosystem matures. We are currently lead investor in BigChainDB and Shapeshift. Shapeshift is a digital asset exchange and BigChainDB an IP database, for virtual and other tokenized assets. Additionally we have been actively exploring the opportunity to leverage ICO’s to raise funds for our portfolio companies.

What’s your current main interest in the field?

I see a future where the blockchain fundamentally changes numerous industries and I want to participate in that change. Two areas I’m watching closely are the application of blockchain in financial technology companies and the impact on venture capital funds and the potential to introduce more liquidity to this traditional very illiquid asset class.

At a couple of portfolio companies, we are actively exploring how the application of blockchain technologies could improve their business and impact their respective markets, e.g. fintech companies Smava and N26 but also Mar-Tech companies like CrossEngage.

What about a tokenized Fund interests you?

The tokenized Fund that Protos has created, is a great example of a team leveraging the new opportunities that blockchain technology brings. For investors, tokenized funds offer new liquidity of their investments — something that has not been possible before to this extent.

Why Protos?

The explosion in new crypto projects has been incredible. The volume of projects, and the importance of sorting through the chaff, lends itself to the hiring of professionals with a focus.

I see value in gaining thoughtful exposure to blockchain assets through a group of smart people who are focusing on sourcing and vetting projects full time. I expect that staying on top of the explosion of worthy projects through Protos will be both profitable and valuable from an educational perspective.

I was introduced to the team by Bosse, a portfolio manager at Protos, whom I got to know closely during his prior time at our firm. The quantitative backgrounds in combination with long-time hedge fund experience, differentiates Protos from other teams in the space. Overall I decided to privately invest in Protos, as I am convinced the team brings the right set of experience and skill and I trust them to successfully manage my investment.

Protos is a tokenized hedge fund. We’re passionate about encouraging crypto adoption by providing a global onramp to blockchain asset investment. Our ICO public sale starts November 7, 2017. Visit protos.tokenhub.com to register or learn more.