COSIMO Ventures, a global venture capital (VC) firm, announced the launch of COSIMO X: an evergreen, tokenized VC fund focusing on early stage deep tech companies with a particular concentration on blockchain technology, spanning industries such as artificial intelligence, AR/VR, IoT, and cybersecurity.
COSIMO X is structured to provide enhanced liquidity for investors along with increased access to the VC asset class and will help deep tech projects secure the funding they need to launch a successful ICO or achieve Series A funding.
Ciarán Hynes, Managing Partner of COSIMO Ventures, said of the fund:
The VC investment model has remained stagnant over many decades and has been slow to adapt to new funding structures. Investors — especially high net worth investors and crypto holders — are looking for new ways to diversify their token-based portfolios. The tokenized VC model will allow for liquidity that has been absent from traditional VC funds until now. The COSIMO team has been at the forefront of value creation for early stage companies over the past 25 years and has developed a process that we believe will create value for our investors and portfolio companies. We believe that blockchain is catalyzing a huge change in both the VC model and landscape and we could not be more excited to provide our investors with this game-changing offering.
COSIMO X is disrupting the traditional venture capital investment model by issuing investors COSIMO tokens, which represent an indirect economic interest in the fund and which will be backed by investments in deep tech portfolio companies. While traditional VC funds have a vesting horizon of seven to ten years, COSIMO token holders can move more freely in or out of positions in the fund in the open market than they otherwise might with traditional VC investments. COSIMO X’s tokenized model encourages institutional investors to invest both company and venture fund tokens due to the shorter time horizon on investments. Additionally, while traditional VC funds typically require a minimum investment of $500,000 or more, COSIMO X will accept a minimum investment of $250,000 for qualifying investors in the United States and $10,000 for qualifying investors outside of the United States, providing investors increased access to the VC asset class.
In addition to challenges that investors face, there is a lack of funding and operational assistance available for early stage companies navigating the deep tech space.
Rob Frasca, Managing Partner of COSIMO Ventures, commented:
There is a clear lack of funding options and guidance available to early stage companies as they navigate the complex deep tech landscape. We look forward to collaborating closely with our portfolio companies to structure their coin offering processes and follow-on funding rounds and to help ensure they have the support necessary for long-term success.