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CityBlock Capital Builds All Star Team Comprising Blockchain Industry Leaders to Invest Tokenized NYCQ Venture Fund
[July 18, 2018]

CityBlock Capital Builds All Star Team Comprising Blockchain Industry Leaders to Invest Tokenized NYCQ Venture Fund


CityBlock Capital is pleased to announce the investment partners and presale for its inaugural tokenized fund, NYCQ, which will lead the development of the blockchain ecosystem by focusing on promising early-stage companies building the future of tokenized finance and digital asset trading. The NYCQ investment team will be anchored by Nikhil Kalghatgi, Founder and Partner of CoVenture Crypto. CityBlock Capital's tokenized venture funds create an SEC (News - Alert)-compliant gateway for global investors to participate in local blockchain ecosystems.

"ICOs are revolutionizing how global capital is sourced, but the first checks into the best companies will continue to be written by venture capitalists," said Rob Nance, managing partner of CityBlock Capital, "each of our investment partners provide industry expertise and access to premier deal flow and we're thrilled to be working with this talented group."

The rise of a new financial ecosystem powered by blockchain means a whole new cadre of "go to" VC's who know the landscape, reminiscent of VC's of the early internet era. NYCQ's complete investment team comprises today's early adopter domain experts, drawing from every facet needed to identify and support the first generation of leading companies in this emerging ecosystem:

Nikhil Kalghatgi and Ateet Ahluwalia are Founder and Partner, and Managing Director of CoVenture Crypto, a multi-strategy cryptocurrency asset management firm backed by Softbank (News - Alert). The firm is helping build key components of tokenized finance including a cryptocurrency index fund designed to make it easy for more traditional investors to gain exposure to top digital assets.

As co-founder of AirSwap, Don Mosites has a deep understanding of blockchain technology and peer to peer marketplaces. Lastly, it's community support that' driven success of companies in this space so far, and will continue to be the case. Rob Paone, (AKA Crypto Bobby), has become one of the leading trusted voices on the blockchain industry and crypto markets, he currently leads partnerships at AirSwap.



The investment team is supported by CityBlock Managing Partners, Rob Nance and Jon Avidor, who combined have decades of experience in banking and venture capital, covering both the financial and legal aspects of the business.

"Blockchain infrastructure will revolutionize the traditional finance world - allowing for increased security, speed, transfer and digitization of trillions of dollars of assets," said Nikhil Kalghatgi, Founder and Partner, CoVenture Crypto. "NYCQ's team are successful founders uniquely positioned to help crypto infrastructure companies excel in this hypergrowth sector."


Cryptocurrency and blockchain have truly disrupted the world of investing. CityBlock Capital merges this new ecosystem with traditional VC in several ways. The firm's funds utilize security token technology and follow SEC guidelines - appealing to traditional and crypto investors alike. Everyone talks about access because of blockchain, CityBlock Capital's funds actually provide it - through lower minimums for LP's, faster liquidity, an expanded number of allowable investors including those who would otherwise not have access to VC deals, and accepting both USD and select crypto currencies - making participation frictionless. Community is also an essential component for success in this emerging and borderless space, CityBlock's approach harnesses the momentum of crypto supporters.

CityBlock Capital also believes in "last mile investing" that benefits from prioritizing experts with a deep understanding of their investment ecosystem who can identify prime investment potential in the places that they know best.

As the financial capital of the world, NYCQ will focus on early-stage startups at the intersection of blockchain and Wall Street and build on the city's already burgeoning sector. New York City's blockchain industry received nearly $200M in funding in 2017, the city is also home to many key institutions in the space - including Gemini and ConsenSys.

The NYCQ presale is now live and will run until August 15, followed by the main token sale August 16 through September 30 or until the $10 million hard cap is reached. Investors can apply via CityBlock Capital's website.

NYCQ is the first of three tokenized venture funds in the series planned for this year, with Los Angeles and San Francisco to follow. Each fund will be similarly backed by a team of blockchain industry leaders with deep connections to their local startup ecosystems to deploy capital. CityBlock tokenized funds are powered by Securitize's issuance platform and accept Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and US dollars.

About CityBlock Capital

CityBlock Capital is the first early stage VC firm focused on merging traditional VC with the new investing ecosystem resulting from blockchain technology, and harnessing its momentum. The firm's "Last Mile" approach globally sources capital to invest in local startup ecosystems.


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