Lakestar to chair new “Venture Building” Working Group

Zug, Switzerland – 14 May 2018 – The Crypto Valley Association (CVA), a leading global blockchain and cryptographic technology ecosystem, has announced that Lakestar, one of Europe’s foremost venture capital firms, is joining the CVA as a Strategic Partner.

Lakestar will chair the CVA’s new “Venture Building” working group – which shall consist of a team of experts drawn from the blockchain and broader technology sectors – and share its experience in identifying and scaling technology companies led by exceptional entrepreneurs. The Lakestar team has previously invested in category leaders such as Skype, Spotify, Facebook and airbnb. Since raising two funds with an aggregate volume of approx. EUR 500 million in 2013 and 2015, Lakestar has expanded and broadened its portfolio, with more recent investments in Harry’s, Opendoor, GoEuro, FiveAI, Revolut, Blockchain.com and Shapeshift.io.

Through its partnership with Lakestar, the CVA will greatly benefit in its work as an independent, nonprofit association building one of the world’s leading blockchain and cryptographic ecosystems. The CVA will gain valuable insight into how to identify, support, and effectively scale promising and innovative members of its startup community – drawing upon Lakestar’s experience in creating real world traction at scale by numerous companies in Switzerland, Europe, and internationally.

The CVA will provide Lakestar with greater access to its ecosystem and startup community, including a deeper understanding of the problems which innovators within the blockchain sector are attempting to solve.

Oliver Bussmann, President of the CVA, commented: “We are proud to welcome Lakestar as a Strategic Partner to our Association. Their experience of investing in and assisting technology entrepreneurs effectively scale and internationalise will provide unique insight to support the work of the CVA and our members.”

Nicolas Brand, Partner at Lakestar, said: “The world is going through a digital revolution and blockchain technology is at the forefront of this change, challenging the model of the internet itself. We see great synergy between our proven track record of building global, digital leaders and the work of the CVA’s blockchain-focused teams. We look forward to working with the CVA and its members in supporting some of Crypto Valley’s most exciting projects.”

“The CVA has grown significantly in the past year. By expanding our network to include the expertise of companies such as Lakestar, which boasts an exceptional client portfolio, we will further strengthen our foundation and enhance our service offering to our members,” Bussmann concluded.

For more information visit https://cryptovalley.swiss/and http://lakestar.com/

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About Crypto Valley Association:

Founded in January 2017, Crypto Valley Association is a non-profit association, with over 600 members, established to support the development and dissemination of cryptographic technologies, blockchain, and other distributed ledger technologies by supporting startups and other companies in Zug, Switzerland and internationally. Crypto Valley’s mission is to shape an open, free, and prosperous economy spanning multiple sectors.

Board members of the Crypto Valley Association are:

Oliver Bussmann, Founder & Managing Partner Bussmann Advisory; Vasily Suvorov, Vice President Technology Strategy Luxoft; Professor René Huesler, Director of the Lucerne School of Information Technology, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts; Sam Chadwick, Director Financial & Risk Innovation Thomson Reuters; Søren Fog, CEO iProtus.

About Lakestar:

Lakestar is one of Europe’s leading venture capital firms investing in technology companies led by exceptional entrepreneurs. Early investments included Skype, Spotify, Facebook and airbnb. Since raising two funds with an aggregate volume of approx. EUR 500m in 2013 and 2015, Lakestar has expanded and broadened its portfolio, with more recent investments in Harry’s, Opendoor, Blockchain.com, GoEuro, FiveAI and Revolut.

Lakestar is on the ground in Berlin, London and Zurich and helps companies to identify new markets and expand into them rapidly, with a focus on the US and Europe. We advise and support portfolio companies in business development, recruitment, technology and marketing. Our investments range from early stage companies to those in their growth stage.

Media Contact:

Liam Murphy

Account Supervisor // Wachsman

Liam@wachsman.com // +353 87 119 2107