$7 million invested in Bitcoin and blockchain companies

Blockchain Capital has raised $7 million in its second round of funding, which will be used to invest in bitcoin and blockchain companies.

It is reported that the company's predecessor was Crypto Currency Partners, whose head is Brock Pierce, chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation. Previously, the company has invested in 29 Bitcoin and blockchain startups, including Blockstream, Coinbase, Ripple Labs and Xapo, with a total investment of US$1.2 million.

Bart Stephens, managing partner of the firm, told CoinDesk:

“We’ve realized that the industry is too narrowly defined by the monetary aspects of bitcoin, and we see blockchain as the underlying technology layer that can exchange value, and all different types of assets, even the keys to your car and house.”

As part of this broader mission, Blockchain Capital is also looking to invest in a sister syndicate company, AngelList.

Blockchain Capital also announced that Alison Davis, a director at Royal Bank of Scotland and Fiserv, has joined the company’s advisory board. Previously, Davis also served on the board of directors of Barclays Global Investors.

According to Blockchain Capital, it aims to raise an additional $3 million before the round closes.

Bitcoin First

Rebranding aside, Blockchain Capital and its partners still believe that Bitcoin will grow into the largest and most important shared database.

While startups like Eris Industries, Hyperledger and OneName are working on managed ledger systems, or alternative blockchains, Stephens noted that his company will continue to focus on bitcoin and bitcoin blockchain companies.

“We see a lot of questions about other blockchains and altcoins. We don’t see a lot of competitive blockchains other than Ripple,” Stephen continued. “We think the Bitcoin blockchain is still the winner.”

On this point, Stephens noted that Bitcoin, as the largest blockchain, will have ongoing network effects.

“We think that despite Bitcoin’s PR problems, it’s still the winner and the most powerful ecosystem. And the high-quality entrepreneurs are building Bitcoin companies, not Dogecoin companies.”

Stephens also said Blockchain Capital will seek to invest in bitcoin and blockchain startups, ranging from seed rounds to later rounds.

Non-financial use cases

According to Stephens, in the next two to five years, there will be another wave of startups focusing on blockchain that will outnumber those focusing on financial services.

“Over $700 million has been invested in the blockchain and bitcoin ecosystem, and almost every company is associated with bitcoin,” he said.

“The term blockchain for us is an infrastructure layer for value exchange, just like TCP/IP is the data exchange infrastructure layer of the Internet. For us, value can be anything.”

Stephens concluded:

“The first Bitcoin enthusiasts were people who were against banks and central authorities. All these people have become aware of Bitcoin, and the question is how do you scale that, how do we get mass adoption?”