At the halfway point of its Equity Token Offering (ETO), Neufund, an end-to-end solution for asset tokenization and issuance, has already raised €2.6m – double the offering’s soft cap. Amid volatile crypto markets, most of the capital raised comes in EUR from a range of prestigious European investors, including VCs, angels, and private individuals. The public offering of Neufund’s parent company, Fifth Force GmbH, ends on December 16th.
Neufund, has managed to attract new investors with diverse backgrounds, including Udo Schloemer (Factory Berlin founder and CEO), Chris Zippel (award-winning music producer and composer), and Dario Suter (movie producer, DCM founder and managing director), as well as secure investment from its existing investors, including, among others, Freigeist Capital and Atlantic Labs, all of which saw an opportunity in the rapidly growing market of Blockchain-based fundraising. Investors can safely commit their funds in fiat currency (EUR) amid volatile crypto markets, proving that Blockchain is much more than just cryptocurrencies. In exchange for the investment, they will receive ERC20 tokens, FTH.
The ongoing offering is the world’s first fully-compliant offering of equity on Blockchain available to the general public. Neufund has established a pioneering, legally-enforceable link between an on-chain token and real-world equity, making the offer compliant under German jurisdiction. (Neufund’s CEO, Zoe Adamovicz, is an advisor to the German government on DLT regulation.) The company’s technology enables virtually any incorporated entity worldwide to conduct a public offering on Blockchain.
To date, Neufund’s platform has attracted a number of prominent European investors and entrepreneurs, including Michael Jackson (Mangrove VC), Christophe Maire (Atlantic Labs), Frank Thelen (Freigeist Capital), and Eric Wahlforss (SoundCloud founder)*. With the ongoing debate about Blockchain’s possible impact on traditional VC and private equity markets (valued at $23bn in the EU alone), Neufund’s offering provides an example of a product that enhances existing methods, rather than replacing them.
“Neufund’s first Equity Token Offering has received overwhelming support from Europe’s most experienced VC & angel investors, as well as entrepreneurs. It is the first time such a diverse group of investors could come together so easily and invest within the same round. Blockchain-based equity fundraising offers highly liquid assets with codified functions such as dividend distribution and automated compliance – features that are beneficial to both companies and investors. Blockchain is not just cryptocurrencies: It is, above all else, a powerful technology enabling us to build better financial services.”
The Equity Token Offering combines the advantages of a classical VC round, an IPO and an ICO. Issuers can raise funds in ETH and EUR, enable tradability of tokens on secondary markets, conduct easy follow-up fundraising rounds and build in utility functions that significantly enhance the governance of investors.
“Neufund is a refreshing wind of change in the traditional VC and private equity worlds. Digitizing real-world equity into Blockchain-based tokens brings a variety of benefits: Increased liquidity, programmable functions, full transparency, automated compliance, to name just a few. I’m excited to support Neufund, and truly believe we are on the way to making fundraising much more accessible.”
* Michael Jackson and Eric Wahlforss did not invest in the ongoing ETO, but committed funds for future investment last year.
