Comcast Ventures in SFO, CA, USA has some very particular goals in mind! It’s not just a company which invests in Blockchain startups but it is investing in blockchain startups which again invest in blockchain startups.
The firm has joined hands with several other ventures. Last month Comcast ventures collaborated with IBM &Boldstart Ventures. Together they backed up accelerator mState, which invests in startups who develop enterprise blockchain solutions. Comcast Ventures also recently had a strategic investment in Blockchange Ventures. Blockchange Ventures invests in enterprises that have built technology using present centralized norms but can be decentralized and upgraded to blockchain ideology soon!
As these firms spread their wings building up a huge blockchain umbrella which covers them in terms of returns and technological learning and development. This mind-blowing strategy of investing in investors is granting good profits to the company and at the same time it is helping the venture capital firm’s $184 billion parent company to be enhancedin knowledge about technology generically.
A newly appointed Managing Director, Gil Beyda, has assembled a team of 5 senior investors from Comcast. The team’s task at hand is to plan an “aggressive” investment strategy which will aim at finding out as to how would the company benefit from technology! Beyda said, “We call ourselves the ‘blockchain crew.”
Beyda has been the founder of adtech startup Real Media previously which was acquired in 2007 for $650 million! He also co-founded seed investing firm Genacast in a partnership with Comcast. With his expertise, he seriously means business with the blockchain investments! Showing exactly how serious the firms are about blockchain investments, he said to CoinDesk, “I can write the $1 million-dollar checks through Genecast and the $2 million to $20 million checks for multi-stages through Comcast Ventures.”
Everything About the Blockchain Crew
The strategy in its center has a group of specialized investors! The dream 5-member team contains Gil Beyda (Managing Director), Amy Banse (Head of Funds at Comcast), Sam Landman (Managing Director), Teddy Himler (Principal) and Morgan Polotan (Co-worker in Genacast). Beyda amongst them is the only person dedicated majorly for Blockchain!
The crew meets multiple times over a week to discuss upcoming trends in blockchain and to explore the possible implications of the trends on Comcast. The firm does not only limit itself to make improvements to Comcast’s present infrastructure and products like flagship cable and internet services but also concentrates on finding greater investments! As said by Beyda, “Our mandate is first and foremost to find great investments. So, we are a financially driven fund, a returns-driven fund.”
Beyda also stated that Comcast Ventures will “let the market decide” on which blockchains serve best to its use. He described the firm’s investment style to be a “very hands-on” approach. The firm as per his statement is interested in leading leaderboards of the companies in which they invest.
The path ahead can see more such collaborations with many other portfolio startups, is what Beyda hinted towards.
ICO Funding Model Search
Comcast is definitely looking at a possibility of ICO funding. Exploring venture capital, the firm is determined to inspect how blockchains could make more people invest in projects via Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). ICO’s are a funding model where new businesses and startups are funded by people who are offered tokens in return for money! An ICO might change the business operations of Comcast Ventures and Beyda and other such senior investors appear to be optimistic in that direction.
The Comcast portfolio firm YouNow last year fundraised a $15 million venture with a $24 million Ethereum-based token sale.While currently, Comcast does not have any YouNow tokens, it is looking forward to holding tokens on its balance sheet as a possibility in the future!
The blockchain crew is giving a direction thus to its future investment decisions. The investors, however, need to get a hang of owning tokens on a blockchain. The regulatory uncertainties waiting to be enforced by the central banks and governments of countries from around the world also is acting as a hurdle with a need to be overcome!
The decision to hold tokens by Comcast Ventures can change the way it operates. Beyda regularly communicates with a dedicated group of Chief Experience Officers (CXOs) to understand and discuss the evolving blockchain trends and opportunities in relation to blockchain and the evolution of Comcast’s existing business model. Beyda wants to ensure that Blockchain turns into a boon and not curse for Comcast Ventures and a way ahead for more learning and earning!
With the likes of T-Mobile competing and also coming up with new blockchain projects, Comcast Ventures definitely would like to stay ahead in the blockchain game!
