CV Labs incubator attracts international startups to the Crypto Valley

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Sophie Küsterling

02.05.2019
The participating startups and part of the CV VC team

This week, the first edition of the CV Labs Incubation Program has started. Out of 500 applications from 35 countries, 12 startups were selected to participate in the ten-week program. Startupticker has met them at CV Labs in Zug.

Blockchain is a technology promoting decentralization and that is also the way the community works: remote and where ever they find a desk and a power plug to charge their laptops. Since the beginning of this week, however, 12 startups from all over the world have set up camp in Zug in order to participate in the CV Labs Incubation Program for the next ten weeks.

The startups will benefit from an extensive curriculum, education and coaching, access to the CV Labs network and workspace, and participate in a series of events. The aim is to get the 12 early-stage startups to be able to pitch in front of investors, have a strategic paper as well as a minimal viable product (MVP) or a minimal marketable product (MMP) by the end of the program. The participants will also receive up to 125’000 US Dollars in seed funding for 10 percent equity. Among the program’s 70 mentors and experts are well-known names such as Mona El Isa, co-founder of Melonport and Fabian Schär of the University of Basel.

Internationally renowned Crypto Valley

After the call to action late last year, CV VC received more than 500 applications from 35 countries. This diversity is apparent in the first batch of the incubator; the participating startups hail from Switzerland, Ukraine, Latvia, India, South Africa, Estonia, Bulgaria as well as the United States. «We actually received the second most applications from the US», explains Pavel Jakovlev, Lead Incubation & Ecosystem at CV VC. Switzerland is represented by startup Bytes.

«In the Netherlands people told me I had to go to Silicon Valley if I wanted to found my own tech startup », says Bernd Oostrum, CEO and cofounder of Tezsure. He did. But in order to get his blockchain startup off the ground, Oostrum decided to now follow the call to Crypto Valley. «Silicon Valley has many advantages, but unlike here in Crypto Valley, blockchain technology is not a focus», adds Oostrum.

The founders all share the conviction that Zug is very much a desirable place to be for blockchain startups. Some, like BHander from Ukraine are looking for clients in the Swiss financial industry, others are looking to raise more funds and all 12 startups see the relocation to Zug as a possibility.

Only the beginning

«The CV Incubation Program is unique in the way that it is focused solely on blockchain startups, something that was missing so far», says Olaf Hannemann, CIO and Cofounder of CV VC. It is no surprise therefore that the second edition of the incubator program is already in planning. The start will be in the fall of 2019, applications are already open.

For a comprehensive list of the 12 participating startups click here.

(Picture: CV Labs)

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