SAN FRANCISCO and HONG KONG, April 17th, 2019 － Proof of Capital, a $50M blockchain-focused venture capital fund, launches today with a mission to build an internet ecosystem that belongs to everyone and to usher in worldwide adoption of blockchain technology.
Proof of Capital is founded by experienced partners Phil Chen (formerly Horizons Ventures and currently HTC EXODUS), Chris McCann (former Greylock Partners), and Edith Yeung (advisor to 500 Startups). Together they have a strong track record in the sector with a few of their previous investments including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dfinity, Binance, Blockstream, Digital Currency Group, Stellar, and Solana among others.
Proof of Capital will invest and partner with big thinkers and exceptional founders who are building market-transforming companies focused on fintech (payment, remittance, custody, wallet), infrastructure (security, identity), hardware and consumer layers of the blockchain ecosystem.
The global outlook and experience of its partners lends itself to the assurance that teams building the decentralized future will not all be based in Silicon Valley. This fund will invest internationally from day one and invest in teams from various countries and based in different jurisdictions.
Proof of Capital made its first investment in the Latin American based blockchain platform Ubanx. Ubanx connects a mainstream audience to the best blockchain ecosystem of products, services and benefits in the financial industry, ensuring friendly, secure, frictionless and compliant experiences. Proof of Capital is also partnering with HTC EXODUS, the first smartphone built for the decentralized internet, which is empowering users to own their own private keys.
Other investors and backers of Proof of Capital include YouTube co-founder Steve Chen, co-founder of Twitch Kevin Lin and the former Chief Risk Officer at Ripple Greg Kidd.
About Proof of Capital
Proof of Capital is a blockchain-focused venture capital fund. Our mission is to build an internet ecosystem that belongs to everyone and usher in worldwide adoption of blockchain technology. We invest and partner with big thinkers and exceptional founders from and based in various international locations who are building market-transforming companies focusing on fintech (payment, remittance, custody, wallet), infrastructure (security, identity), hardware and consumer layers of the blockchain ecosystem.
Founded by Phil Chen (formerHorizons Ventures and currently HTC), Edith Yeung (advisor to 500 Startups), and Chris McCann (former Greylock Partners), our blockchain investments include: Stellar/Lightyear (valued at $2B), Binance (valued at $2B), Dfinity (valued at $1B), NEO (valued at $500M), Solana (valued at $250M), 0x (valued at $150M), etc.
Our fund advisors include Greg Kidd (Ripple), Howard Wu (zCash), Dominic Williams (Dfinity), Dawn Song (Oasis), and Kas Vardhanabhuti.
Bios and Quotes from Founding Partners of Proof of Capital:
Phil Chen - Decentralized Chief Officer at HTC and original creator of the HTC VIVE and HTC EXODUS product lines. Phil was previously a managing partner at Presence Capital and advisor at Horizons Ventures having invested in the likes of Improbable and Dfinity.
Phil says: “The architecture and security of Web 3.0 needs close collaboration between both hardware and software builders with HTC’s EXODUS taking a leading role starting with a Secure Enclave within the phone. Proof of Capital will work closely with HTC to define the standards and interactions for this new internet and bring mobile and hardware know-how for our portfolio companies. Blockchain will redefine computing and create a new framework based on trust, privacy, security, and identity.”
Edith Yeung - Frequently cited as one of the top investors to know, Edith is the creator of the China Internet Report, Silicon.news and the 500 Startups Blockchain Incubator track, which partnered with Huobi, OKcoin and many other top exchanges. Previously, Edith was the GM at Dolphin Browser, a Sequoia-backed mobile browser with over 150 million installs worldwide. Edith also worked with many Fortune 500 companies such as Siebel, AMS and AT&T.
Edith says: “We want to meet and build long term partnerships with founders who want to define this new internet. We are ready to roll up our sleeves and help our portfolio companies by bringing the right partners, communities, and network of support from both Asia and Silicon Valley,”
Chris McCann - Chris previously founded and led the community program at Greylock Partners, who were early investors of Facebook, LinkedIn, Airbnb, Dropbox, Coinbase and more. Chris was also the co-founder of StartupDigest (acquired by Techstars) and creator of RelayNode, one of the largest media publications covering the blockchain industry in Silicon Valley, Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea and China.
Chris says: “Out of all of the frontier markets I spent time in at Greylock Partners, the blockchain industry is the only new market where startups have a chance to build large, meaningful and enduring companies. We are excited to back entrepreneurs redefining finance, computing, trust, privacy, security and more.”
About HTC
HTC Corporation aims to bring brilliance to life. As a global innovator in smart mobile devices and technology, HTC has produced award-winning products and industry firsts since its inception in 1997, including the critically acclaimed HTC U and Desire lines of smartphones. The pursuit of brilliance is at the heart of everything we do, inspiring best-in-class design and game-changing mobile and virtual reality experiences for consumers around the world. HTC is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE: 2498). www.htc.com.
About HTC VIVE
VIVE is a first-of-its-kind virtual reality platform, built and optimized for room-scale VR and true-to-life interactions. Built on the SteamVR platform, VIVE delivering on the promise of VR with game-changing technology and best-in-class content, VIVE has created the strongest ecosystem for VR hardware and software, bringing VR to consumers, developers and enterprises alike. The VIVE ecosystem is built around the best VR hardware in market, supported by VIVE X, a $100 million accelerator for VR and related technology start-ups, VIVPORT, a global platform and app store with the world’s first VR subscription model that operates in more than 60 countries, and VIVE Studios, its VR content development and publishing initiative. For more information on VIVE, please visit www.vive.com.
HTC, the HTC logo are the trademarks of HTC Corporation. All other names of companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
