COSIMO Ventures, an investment firm with offices in Boston and Dublin focused on transforming promising deep technology companies into global industry leaders, today announced a seven-figure investment from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) into its new, blockchain-focused tokenized fund, COSIMO X.
According to Robert Frasca, Managing Partner, COSIMO Ventures, this is the first time that any university in the United States has directly invested in a tokenized venture fund. Although many similar institutions, including Harvard, Yale, and MIT, have made indirect investments into digital assets and blockchain technology through traditional venture funds such as Andreesen Horowitz and Paradigm, RIT is the first to directly hold a tokenized economic interest in digital security form.
“As industry leaders, not only is it important for us to invest in businesses advancing cutting-edge technologies, but it is essential to adopt such technologies as a means by which we invest. We are impressed by the entrepreneurial experience and forward-thinking mindset of the COSIMO team and their innovative approach to venture investing. The team’s deal flow has sourced unparalleled investment opportunities and the fund has one of the most appealing economic structures in the market today.” said James Watters, RIT’s senior vice president for finance and administration.
COSIMO X Tokens, which represent economic interest in the evergreen fund, are currently available via the Securitize powered COSIMO X website and can be purchased by institutions, international investors, and US accredited investors.
“We are incredibly excited to have been selected as the issuance technology for the COSIMO X tokens,” said Carlos Domingo co-founder and CEO of Securitize. “The COSIMO team has completely redesigned the way venture capital investing works by heightening valuation transparency, enhancing liquidity, and generating economic incentives for long-term holders. By deploying our Securitize ID and Instant Access products in tandem with the token, Cosimo investors have access to groundbreaking tech that enables instant trading of securities in a compliant way that leverages the broadest set of wallets such as Coinbase Wallet.”
COSIMO X is focused on investing in businesses that utilized digital assets and blockchain protocols to further advance the rapidly emerging digital economy. With exposure to companies within the sectors of regulatory technology, new digital asset creation, and market infrastructure platforms, the fund is focused on financial technology as a spearhead to enter the market.
“Of course, we feel that the structure of the fund is very appealing,” added Robert Frasca, Managing Partner at COSIMO Ventures, “but we are just as excited about the opportunities that the fund will continue to invest in. After all, there is a multi-trillion-dollar growth opportunity in decentralized software protocols that we are aiming to capture. Yes, the tokenized vehicle is exciting, but we believe that the growth that we can foster as an investment firm will be what really resonates with our investors. Once the market fully understands the benefits of tokenization as it relates to fund investing, a structure like ours might become the market standard.”