CV VC
CV VC, short for Crypto Valley Venture Capital, is a venture capital investor in Zug that was founded in 2018 and has made investments since 2019. The firm backs seed-stage founders who build companies on frontier technologies, in areas it names automation, intelligent B2B and digital finance. CV VC invests across Europe, the United States and the Middle East and reports more than 80 investments so far.
CV VC gives qualified investors access to these companies through its venture capital funds. Its ecosystem arm CV Labs runs the accelerator through which CV VC invests in early-stage teams. Every year CV VC publishes the Crypto Valley Top 50 and ecosystem report on the blockchain companies of Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
The Crypto Valley Top 50 and ecosystem report
The eleventh edition of the CV VC Crypto Valley Top 50 & Ecosystem Report came out in April 2026. It counts 1,766 active blockchain companies in the Crypto Valley, which the report defines as Switzerland and Liechtenstein, 134 percent more than in 2020, with 715 of them in Zug and 257 in Zurich. In 2025 these companies raised 728 million US dollars in 31 deals, which was 47 percent of all blockchain venture funding in Europe.
The Top 50 ranking values token projects by market capitalization and private companies by enterprise value, and the 50 companies together reached 467 billion US dollars. Ten of them were valued at more than one billion dollars each. The largest round of 2025 went to TON with 400 million dollars, followed by the Zurich bank Sygnum with 58 million.
Earlier editions were written with partners, and PwC Switzerland co-authored the report for 2021. The 2023 edition appeared together with the Swiss law firm MME.
Founders and leadership
The blockchain consultancy Lakeside Partners in Zug founded CV VC in September 2018 together with a group of private investors. At the start, Mathias Ruch was chief executive and board member, while Marco Bumbacher chaired the board and Ralf Glabischnig sat on it. Olaf Hannemann, formerly a banker at J.P. Morgan, joined as co-founder and chief investment officer. Mathias Ruch still leads the company today as its founder and CEO.
Investment focus and ticket size
The plan in 2018 was to invest about 125,000 US dollars per blockchain startup in exchange for shares or tokens. Today the accelerator ticket is 150,000 US dollars for six percent of the equity, with follow-on investments of up to 500,000 dollars. CV VC says that it expects the future to be AI-native and looks for category-defining companies in its three areas.
Upcoming fintech and finance events in Switzerland
Office in Zug and links to Dubai
CV VC AG has its office at Dammstrasse 16, 6300 Zug, in the same building as CV Labs. In October 2024 CV VC agreed on a cooperation with the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre to connect the Web3 companies of Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates, with joint events such as the Web3 Hub in Davos.
CV VC and Finance Loop
Investors and founders in the Crypto Valley and banks in Germany ask the same questions about custody, tokenized securities and MiCA. Finance Loop brings people from the Swiss and the German financial centers together at its events on digital assets and AI in finance.
Finance Loop is a professional network and has the goal of driving the institutional use of emerging technologies in finance, such as AI, tokenization, stablecoins, and DeFi. Finance Loop helps its members build skills and personal networks in these fields: Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.