We are now a team of 3 co-founders working full-time on Tufa (http://tufa.ai/). The long term goal is to do AGI research (french version of DeepMind). The short term goal is to provide funding for long term goal by developing an algorithmic trader of cryptocurencies, using deep learning techniques. This has the benefit of developing ML/Deep Learning expertise that will be useful later for research.<p>So far, we have a basic prototype that makes a monthly 15% of return on capital by trading BTC/EUR on coinbase, as evaluated on backtesting scenarios. We are in the process of deploying it live to validate that our hypotheses hold true.<p>My brother and I have applied to the Entrepreneur First accelerator and got accepted (https://www.joinef.com/). But we have not signed yet. Their basic deal is a 90k investment for a 10% equity in the form of a convertible note. The issue with their program is that they have a lot of conditions/clauses (first refusal, future investments, dilution, non-compete, intellectual property, board seats) that we are not too happy about. In addition, the contract is phrased in very vague terms.<p>So I'm evaluating other ways I could raise funds to see if we can raise on better terms.
Running on our own savings, we have 2 years of runway that we can extend to 4 years if needed by relocating. The way we plan to use external investment (VC or angel) is as capital for the trader, because there is no need for salaries or offices. This way, we only need a small amount to get started.<p>We are looking for a deal like this:
- $70k worth of BTC for 5% of equity in Tufa, or
- $140k worth of BTC for 10% of equity in Tufa,
with whatever means is easier (convertible debt, safe, equity...)<p>Do you know an angel investor that would be interested in this?
Thanks