Neufund, the Berlin-based equity fundraising platform regulated under German jurisdiction, that allows for any type of financial asset to be tokenized and liquidized, has just announced the first companies to officially conduct security offerings through its blockchain technology
Neufund, the company disrupting the venture capital industry by providing investors and inventors a new way to fund ventures, announced the first companies to tokenize their equity on Neufund’s blockchain-powered platform. Equity Token Offerings (ETOs) ensure fundraising safety with Neufund’s legally-binding and regulations compliant framework under German jurisdiction. Using ETH and EUR (fiat currency), users can purchase equity tokens. ETOs usher in a new era of legal and secure ICOs.
Neufund has created a legal and technical infrastructure that serves as a primary market for companies from both the blockchain and non-blockchain space to offer tokens guaranteeing equity rights, which Neufund has coined “equity tokens.” Neufund is already regulated in a way that allows companies to conduct fully legal fundraising on the blockchain. Investments can be conducted using both ETH and EUR, bridging the gap between the crypto world and the world of traditional investments.
Before Neufund, VC companies were only able to invest in traditional equity instruments. Now, Neufund’s equity tokens serve as equity instruments, empowering those with limited investing capital to use fractional ownership as a means of investing. One share has the potential to be represented by one million equity tokens, and can be held by anyone from a parent or grandparent to major VC firms like Sequoia Capital. The first-ever companies that will tokenize their equity come from a wide range of industries (Internet of Things, fintech, banking, biotech and the automotive industry), countries (Germany, India, Sweden, Switzerland and more) and varying in their growth stage (seed, series A, series D and more), offering investors a diverse selection.
Six companies that are tokenizing their equity are:
- Brille24: Brille24 is a Eyewear pioneer and aims to change the way people access eye care by making it convenient to purchase glasses online thanks to smart ai-applications. Founded 10 years ago, Brille24 has sold more than 2 million glasses and is currently serving one million customers. The company was founded in 2007 in Oldenburg, Germany and currently operates online stores in Belgium, France, Netherlands, Portugal, Poland and Spain. The current CEO is Christophe Hocquet and the Managing Director is Johannes Korves.
- Uniti: Uniti is the Swedish electric car startup offering what CNBC has called “the car of the future.” Safe & affordable EVs with premium technology and a progressive design. It was founded in 2016 by Lewis Horne, with the first deliveries expected in 2019.
- mySWOOOP: mySWOOOP is an omni-channel re-commerce platform that buys and sells new and used electronics. With tailored software technology, mySWOOOP automatically determines current market prices in real-time assuring attractive resale-margins. mySWOOOP was founded in 2011 by Benjamin Gabriel, Simon Gabriel and Jan-Lucca Sielski.
- Next Big Thing: Next Big Thing is Europe’s premier startup incubator for IoT & blockchain ventures and Germany’s chosen Digital Hub for IoT, driving European innovation. Next Big Thing leverages its technological and economic ecosystem to enable disruptive business models. It was co-founded in 2016 by Harald Zapp, Michael-Maria Bommer, and Maik Käbisch.
- Emflux Motors: Emflux Motors is an electric superbike company changing the landscape of transportation & mobility. It is an India-based venture backed by both crypto and traditional investors with a mission to power 10 million electric bikes globally by 2027. Emflux Motors was founded in 2016 by Varun Mittal, Ankit Khatry, and Vinay Raj Somashekher.
- BlockState: BlockState is a company creating products for the future of finance. BlockState builds efficient, transparent and compliant products for asset management, debt issuance and derivatives based on blockchain technology. It was founded in 2017 by Michael Weber and Paul Claudius.
Along with the six companies listed above, Neufund will onboard and announce the names of 3 more companies in the weeks to come; a bank for crypto founders, a platform enabling fiat currency transactions on Ethereum, and a German biotech company featuring genome sequencing technologies.
Zoe Adamovicz and Marcin Rudolf, Co-Founders
Traditional investors are not attracted to ICOs without the proper legal and technical framework that secure investments, as they do not guarantee shareholders rights,” said Frank Thelen, Founding Partner at Freigeist VC and participant in Neufund’s Initial Capital Building Mechanism (ICBM). “Neufund’s Equity Tokens Offerings are changing the space by offering direct, transparent and, most importantly, legally binding investment rounds on the blockchain, which is an attractive proposition to both companies and investors. Neufund enables higher liquidity, lower costs of conducting the offerings, and trustless transaction execution.
Decentralized, transparent and legally-binding public offerings are a needed evolution in the fundraising world, as one that combines the advantages of traditional IPOs, VC rounds and ICOs,” added Zoe Adamovicz, Co-Founder and CEO at Neufund. “Neufund accelerates the way we invest and the way we invent, making it possible for VC companies, and private and corporate investors to commit within the same round. Our company has been often compared to Nasdaq, but, we are nothing like Nasdaq: we’re better. We are decentralized, transparent and owned by the community. Now, with the announcement of the fast-growing and innovative companies that will conduct the first ETOs with us, we make a strong step towards a superior, more fair and more inclusive economy. We are the disruption that can influence the future of the fundraising process for the better.