Thanksgiving Day Announcement
The sun never sets on the blockchain and while it is Friday in Asia it is still Thursday in the U.S. and it is Thanksgiving day. A holiday for people to slow down and give thanks to each other. In the spirit of this holiday, I want to take a moment to reflect and thank those who have helped us at Quantstamp so much this year.
I am so overwhelmed and thankful for the incredible support from around the world for our project. Recently, I have been talking with mentors and advisors about this experience and how we can express the immense gratitude that we have for everyone who supports our vision of securing Ethereum.
In this post I want to acknowledge a group of experts and venture capitalist firms who have invested in and supported us. While this is not an exhaustive list, here are some of the great organizations and firms that have joined our family. At first, I just wrote about Kenetic Capital, but in the end I decided to make a post about everyone so that it is fair.
Y Combinator is the premier startup accelerator in the world. The YC partners work closely with each company to get them into the best possible shape for growth. Quantstamp is joining the Winter 2018 class cycle. Each cycle culminates in Demo Day, when the startups present their business plans to a carefully selected, audience of investors.
Quantstamp is solving a critical issue with smart contracts on the blockchain. Smart contracts are growing at an exponential rate and could become a billion dollar market, yet are vulnerable to hacks that prevent widespread adoption. At Y Combinator, we support big world-changing ideas, and are proud to support Quantstamp.
Aaron Harris, Y Combinator Partner
Luna Capital is a leading cryptocurrency hedge fund in Silicon Valley, founded by Lindsey Maule from Precursor Ventures, Travis Gough, the Cofounder of Coinsource, and Michael Mazzotta. Luna Capital partners use their 12 years of combined experience to help blockchain companies build a legacy in the industry. Luna Capital has also traded over $100 million worth of digital assets and attributes their portfolio success to the emphasis they place on investing in quality teams.
Lindsey Maule was essential to Quantstamp’s early success. She did not only help our project by offering us Luna Capital’s funds, she also helped us by leveraging her extensive network and offering us her extensive expertise.
“I was one of the first investors in Quantstamp. The problem Quantstamp is working to solve is essential to the mainstream adoption of blockchain technology. More importantly, Quantstamp’s team has the skills necessary to bring their vision into reality.”
- Lindsey Maule, Founder of Luna Capital
TLDR Capital is a digital currency investment and advisory firm headquartered in London. They achieve superior risk-adjusted returns for their investors by recognizing the long-term potential of blockchain projects before other do. TLDR Capital values continuous improvement, integrity, intellectual honesty, teamwork, process over outcome and the drive to be world class.
Here is an excerpt by Thomas Graham on Quantstamp:
Quantstamp is an amazing example of crypto eating the world. Quantstamp’s CTO, Steven Stewart, and I have worked together on a number of projects over the years (none as exciting as Quantstamp) and it was not long ago that we were sitting around with Richard Ma discussing different protocols and projects that would benefit the community and ecosystem. One idea that bubbled to the top was based on the formal methods research to which Steven had dedicated his studies — and it became Quantstamp.
For years, Steven had been investigating ways to integrate his research into commercial or open projects but it was not until the crypto ecosystem really became a new innovation platform that it made sense. Now, the best minds are gathered together at Quantstamp with the motivation and support to bring this tech to life.
I think that crypto — in all its forms — provides a new logic for human coordination and an opening up of the modes of innovation that have previously been very tightly held. I am excited for the Quantstamp team and the whole community for what is to come!
Kenetic Capital empowers entrepreneurs building the next 50 years of the Internet and accelerate Blockchain adoption by bridging the corporate world and the Blockchain community.
Jehan Chu, a founder of Kenetic Capital, has also been essential to the cultivation of the blockchain community in Hong Kong. He is a founder of the Ethereum Hong Kong and Hyperledger Hong Kong communities and a cofounder of the Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong. Ethereum Hong Kong has grown to over 1,100 members and has hosted Vitalik Buterin as a speaker on 7 occasions.
Kenetic is committed to the ongoing development of a safe and secure Blockchain ecosystem, and we are very excited to support Richard and the Quantstamp team in making smart contracts smarter and safer.
Jehan Chu, Founder of Kenetic Capital
Since Science started in 2011, they’ve co-founded and invested in more than 70 companies and exited multiple companies including Dollar Shave Club (acquired by Unilever for $1B), HelloSociety (acquired by New York Times) and FameBit (acquired by Google). They have a track record for identifying legacy industries and creating platforms for innovation.
They believe that blockchain is the next major platform for innovation and a foundational technology — that it has the ability to change the way both business and social structures work.
Team in Residence is a group of successful entrepreneurs and venture capitalists that partner with talented innovators to create sustainable enterprises. Their belief is that by providing talented innovators with a well rounded team that brings expertise, relationships, and access to capital, entrepreneurs can both realize their vision and be rewarded in the process. Past Start up and Blockchain investments include Slack, Omisego, Filecoin and 0x.
Blockchain Partners Korea is an expert group of blockchain evangelists in the Korean IT industry. They have partners in various fields such as serial entrepreneurs, developers, investors, and law. Their vision is to connect Korea with leading blockchain projects around the world. They have a track record of successful investments including OmiseGo.
ICONIC Capital is the leading ICO consulting and investment firm in Asia with an excellent track record of companies such as TenX, the largest ICO in Asia with $80 million USD raised. Chris Miess, ICONIC’s founder and CEO, is the former CFO at TenX and previously, he worked in M&A at Goldman Sachs in London.
We at ICONIC Capital invested in Quantstamp because we believe in the company’s potential to fundamentally disrupt the smart contract market by automating a large part of the auditing work. Richard, Steve and team are a perfect mixture between vision and execution. This could well be a billion Dollar company.
Chris Miess, ICONIC Capital Founder & CEO
Turing Capital is a high-tech alternative investment firm specialising in automation and scripting. Following years of research and tests, we have translated numerous trading philosophies into portable codesets, allowing trades to be made without human intervention.
Block Asset Management is the token investment arm of Fenbushi Capital. Renqi, the well-connected investment lead at Block Asset, believes in helping projects in their portfolio with introductions to build synergies and create long-term value. Block Asset management approaches investment from the perspective of Venture Capital — with holding horizons between 5–10 years, and therefore places a lot of emphasis on team, governance and execution. They are one of the top cryptocurrency funds in Asia.
Thank you all for your support and love. Together we will achieve our shared vision.
Love you all,
Richard
Click here to learn more about Quantstamp.
