Looking for Ethereum startups to join the Boost VC family: deadline to apply May 31st! https://app.boost.vc/apply Housing, office space, investment!

Pete Rizzo, editor at CoinDesk, the largest news source for bitcoin and other digital currencies, emailed me a simple request yesterday:

“Wondering if you might be able to provide a short list of any interesting startups in the Ethereum space?”

For reference, Boost VC is one of the most active investors in the blockchain space with ~50 startup investments. None of which are Ethereum however. This question from Pete stemmed from the fact I announced for Boost VC, we would now be investing in products built using Ethereum. Interestingly, that blog post was my most viewed of all time and the highest engagement I had received. Fifty emails in a couple weeks came in regarding people building Ethereum projects or people just excited about the announcement.

So I should easily be able to provide a list of startups in the Ethereum space right?

I thought so. But I learned a few things when this question was proposed.

A startup and a project are very different. A startup is defined as a newly established business. However, many of the people working on Ethereum would definitely still be classified as projects. These were typically projects on the side of a full time job or simply unsure what they were planning to do with it. Projects many times turn into startups and that is what I am hoping, it may just be a bit too soon. The Ethereum ecosystem is still very idealist, trying to disrupt the traditional system, and startups are very traditional (traditional defined as long established). This is no different than the Bitcoin community in the early days and still many today. Things like The DAO are the most extreme example but provide a good understanding as to how many are thinking about building these projects. Being a startup in today’s world would mean giving up the decentralized and democratic aspects so loved. Ethereum startups still have a chicken and egg problem. We saw this with Bitcoin. Why start a startup if no one will fund it? There were almost no Bitcoin startups around until Coinbase took off and raised ~$100M in venture capital. After that moment, the amount of new Bitcoin startups popping up on sites like AngelList was overwhelming. Many of these were just projects but they saw a potential to get money if they were a Bitcoin startup. People follow money.

Only last month, the first Ethereum startup to raise money from venture capitalists happened: Ethcore. This is an exciting start and we are hoping to see many more! I hope to see many of these projects become startups. Even if they aren’t looking for VC money, startups are a great way to formalize ways of bringing new technology to people around the world.

BUT if you are looking for VC money — come talk to us :) brayton@boost.vc