Blockchain technology has become the so-called “news of every block” in the fintech industry. Several individuals and groups are building businesses on the BSV enterprise blockchain, and all of them thrive on resources, including adequate funds, to facilitate, enhance, and grow their businesses. Paul Rajchgod, Managing Director of Ayre Ventures, a global investment group that funds these businesses and technologies, shares his insights about investors’ profiles, challenges, and pace of adoption related to blockchain technology. Ayre Ventures is one of the headline sponsors of the BSV Global Blockchain Convention taking place in Dubai on May 24-26.
2022 marks a big year for Bitcoin and blockchain industry. Ayre Ventures was at the CoinGeek Zurich in June 2021 and New York in October 2021, and there have been numerous developments at the venture capital firm since. When asked what’s new with Ayre Ventures, Rajchgod said: “We have closed investments into several companies that we’re excited about, including Satoshi Blockchain Dojo, mintBlue, and RAD, as well as reinvesting in several of our existing portfolio companies with further funding. Satoshi Blockchain Dojo is BSV blockchain’s first dedicated incubator and is already expanding beyond its initial London base. They’re a very well-run group and have strong graduates from their first cohort. We’re excited to see how their second cohort develops!”
“mintBlue is an enterprise-focused Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) provider in Europe with a growing base of large enterprise clients and has already added nearly two million transactions on-chain for clients (invoices as NFTs). And RAD is an innovative content distribution and NFT streaming platform building on BSV, including for its own ‘enterprise usage.’ With other investments in the works, we hope to close soon. It’s been a very busy time!” Rajchgod added.
Besides the hype and excitement, enterprises are also facing challenges related to utilizing blockchain technology.
“The promise of blockchain has taken several years to prove out, but it is here now and only truly possible with BSV blockchain. This sort of thing happens from time to time in the tech space, where an industry is ‘ahead of itself’ from an investment point of view, and then several years later, it has thrived and become obvious—one of those ‘hindsight is 20/20’ sort of things,” Rajchgod said.
But, Rajchgod pointed out, “Indeed, BSV blockchain delivers on what enterprises and governments need—an enterprise-level data management and valuation protocol (for things like open and transparent immutable records, timestamping of selected data for authentication and audit purposes) and the leading platform for micro-and nanopayments, all the while with ultra-low and stable costs, which is so important for enterprises and governments.”
Blockchain is seeing major adoption around the world. There are at least hundreds or maybe thousands of coins in existence. Some areas (industries) are less receptive, while others are more receptive to adopting and embracing blockchain technology. Rajchgod told CoinGeek that many enterprises and governments have tried to use other public blockchains and so-called private blockchains (like IBM’s Hyperledger), only to realize they are severely limiting, to the point of being useless, and this is why many gave up.
“Now that BSV blockchain is ‘unshackled,’ proving every day how scaling is supposed to work, and leading the way with actual blockchain utility, enterprises and governments are taking notice.
Undoubtedly, this is why we at Ayre Ventures are seeing a rapidly growing list of enterprise-focused platforms looking to use BSV for their clients in pharma, insurance, cloud computing, supply chain, gaming, NFT platforms, and on and on!”
BSV blockchain offers an endless amount of use cases and value for investors, consumers, enterprises, and governments alike. Rajchgod noted that the main point, however, is that Bitcoin’s real value lies in the utility of the blockchain—using the blockchain for what it was intended for and is capable of.
How does Ayre Ventures identify whether a company is worth investing in?
“We look for businesses that can scale, such as with recurring revenue (as one finds in SaaS / BaaS/ IaaS platforms), that have very strong management teams – ideally folks who have prior experience building and exiting other companies, and we look for companies that are making use of BSV blockchain’s unique capabilities. We hope to close a few more investments in the coming weeks that are both enterprise and consumer-focused and that offer capabilities to their clients that can only happen on BSV, and this excites us,” Rajchgod said.
What’s next for Ayre Ventures? Rajchgod told CoinGeek that the company would continue to “lead the way” with investments into fast-growing companies building on the BSV blockchain. He added that Ayre Ventures would see a proliferation of enterprise and consumer activity on the BSV blockchain in the coming years and an explosion of on-chain utility from all sorts of use cases.
Ayre Ventures will be at the BSV Global Blockchain Convention in Dubai. When asked what are they looking forward to the most about the conference in Dubai, Rajchgod revealed that besides the many announcements Ayre Ventures would witness from companies presenting at the GBC Dubai 2022, he has made many contacts in recent months with investors in the Dubai community who are learning about BSV and will attend the conference.
“I’m looking forward to meeting and working with them as co-investors in future funding rounds,” he said.
Why did Ayre Ventures decide to sponsor GBC Dubai 2022?
“Well, it’s going to be a head-turning convention in a city that’s a hotbed of investment and growing blockchain interest. Need I say more?!” he said with a smile. Rajchgod and the team are happy to chat with anyone at their booth at the conference, as well as online in their virtual booth.
Closing the interview, Rajchgod quoted the lyrics of the song The Smiths by a British rock group from the 1980s: These Things Take Time!, especially, he said, for industry-leading solutions. “But these investments will bear fruit, and we’re very confident the utility of BSV blockchain will continue to grow and pull away from the pack.”
Don’t miss out the first ever BSV Global Blockchain Convention taking place at the Grand Hyatt in Dubai on May 24 – 26. Book your tickets today!
New to blockchain? Check out CoinGeek’s Blockchain for Beginners section, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about blockchain technology.
