Tim DraperFounder and Managing Partne, Draper Associate · I back the ideas that look crazy first

Draper Fund and Blockchain | Andy Tang

15 Mar 2018 · 2 min

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This content was created by Tim Draper. This content was uploaded by Tim Draper. This is a YouTube video titled "Draper Fund and Blockchain | Andy Tang" (published 2018-03-15) featuring Andy Tang, CEO of Draper University and partner in the Draper Venture Fund. He presents findings from a survey of ~1,000 venture-backed portfolio CEOs across the Draper fund family, highlighting that AI and blockchain are top areas of interest. He describes the fund's cross-border China–US focus, notes investments in Tezos, Bancor, VeChain, Qtum, Coinbase and Ledger, and states the fund's goal of fostering early-stage companies and finding rising stars for 2018.

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My name is Andy Tang. I'm the CEO of Draper University. I'm also a partner in the Draper Venture Fund. And this is basically where we are. So we kind of represent all parts of the world, ranging from Asia, Middle East, Africa, to the Americas. And we actually did a survey with our CEOs. So there are 12 funds in our fund family, 12. across about 1,000 portfolio companies. And we asked them, what are you excited about? So this is a survey from 1,000 portfolio CEOs, venture-backed CEOs, and these are the terms that came out. So it seems like artificial intelligence, top of mind, but blockchain is definitely up there. So I think you're at the right place. 2017 was a great year for us, for the Draper Venture Funds. So myself, I'm a cross-border, you know, early-stage venture guy. I've been doing this since 2000. So I focus on China-US corridor. So really those are the 2 countries, or Asia, the continents, that I pay attention to the most. On the US side, the Draper Funds have invested in Tezos, Bancor, 2 of the largest. In China, we're in VeChain and Qtum, also 2 of the largest in China. And then also just outside of the ICO or the crypto space, we're in Coinbase and Ledger. So our goal is really to make sure we foster this community and then be part of the team as these companies grow up. And obviously, as we're early-stage investors, so we continue to look for the sort of up-and-coming next rising star in 2018.