We launch companies that restore trust in digital interactions.
We work with industry veterans to qualify business plans that are actionable, have scalable profit models, and leverage breakthrough technology to solve previously unsolvable digital trust problems. Then we launch.
As a venture studio, we launch new startups rather than investing in existing companies. We've had two exits—to Salesforce and Avast—and counting.
PORTFOLIO
(Founded)
Authentic digital communication across global telecom networks.
www.provenant.net
True zero trust data exchange between healthcare organizations.
www.healthkeri.com
Secure, collaborative underwriting for commercial real estate.
(stealth)
(Founded and sold)
Enterprise-scale management of verifiable credentials.
(Sold to Salesforce)
Our first digital trust startup, a pioneer of self-sovereign identity (SSI).
(Sold to Avast)
Studio & Fund
Studio
Why launch new startups instead of investing in existing ones, like most venture firms do?
1. It works. Venture studios deliver higher returns with less risk, on average, than the typical fund model. We’ve already had two profitable exits, from founding to acquisition.
2. Expertise. We are experts in the business application of KERI (see below), a game-changer for digital trust.
By combining our KERI expertise with an entrepreneur’s industry expertise, we create significant technical and business advantages for our companies.
Fund
From the start, DTVP—and its predecessor, DTV—has funded startups through syndication with outside investors. Now, with two exits and a global, intensifying demand for digital trust, we are expanding and accelerating our successful model with the creation of our first fund.
Each DTVP portfolio company leverages a major breakthrough in internet-scale digital trust: the KERI protocol (Key Event Receipt Infrastructure).
With KERI, anyone can digitally sign a piece of data, and verify what others have signed. With KERI, the provenance and integrity of anything digital can be securely verified by anyone, no matter where it originated or how it arrived at its destination, without having to share or trust a common intermediary.
KERI is an open source, open standard “decentralized key management protocol.” KERI was invented in 2019 by DTVP advisor Dr. Samuel Smith, with its original development funded by GLEIF, of the G20, beginning in 2020.
KERI is a protocol, not a platform, and is not “blockchain”. KERI brings new digital trust capabilities for:
- secretless (passwordless) authentication;
- guardianship and delegation;
- revocation;
- auditability and secure attribution;
- sustainable privacy;
- interoperability;
- quantum resistance;
- phishing resistance;
- true zero trust;
- recovery from breaches.
KERI is a foundational breakthrough for digital trust, enabling exciting new solutions to difficult, previously unsolvable business problems. Here are just a few examples of business advantages that KERI brings to DTVP portfolio companies:
Provenant
With Provenant, phone calls and text messages become verifiable, no matter where they originate or how many networks they traverse, anywhere in the world.
healthKERI
healthKERI enables healthcare organizations to securely exchange sensitive clinical data in a phish-proof manner, without needing to share the same vendor or intermediary.
1Bedrock
1Bedrock assures unparalleled data provenance and integrity within commercial real estate transactions, ensuring accuracy and building trust in the underwriting processes.
TEAM
Michael MacFarland
CEO
Michael was the Chief Architect of Fannie Mae/CSS, where he managed operations for $5 trillion in assets. He has more than 25 years of experience in architecting, building, and operating trillion-dollar financial solutions. He has founded several companies with multiple successful outcomes.
Timothy Ruff
Chief Strategy Officer
Timothy has over 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur, investor, and advisor. He has co-founded multiple digital trust startups, including SSI pioneer Evernym, with multiple successful exits. He is co-founder of Sovrin, the first blockchain dedicated to self-sovereign identity (SSI), and is the co-inventor of the vLEI, a key innovation for organizational identity.
Tom Fitzpatrick
Chairman
Tom is an experienced entrepreneur, investor, advisor and attorney with more than 40 years’ experience in various industries. Tom chaired the board of FreightCar America, Inc. (Nasdaq: RAIL).
Dr. Samuel Smith
Advisor
Dr. Smith is the inventor of the KERI protocol. He has had a long career in machine learning, AI, and verifiable identity systems. He has over 100 peer-reviewed publications and has led federally funded research.
Michael MacFarland
CEO
Michael was the Chief Architect of Fannie Mae/CSS, where he managed operations for $5 trillion in assets. He has more than 25 years of experience in architecting, building, and operating trillion-dollar financial solutions. He has founded several companies with multiple successful outcomes.
Timothy Ruff
Chief Strategy Officer
Timothy has over 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur, investor, and advisor. He has co-founded multiple digital trust startups, including SSI pioneer Evernym, with multiple successful exits. He is co-founder of Sovrin, the first blockchain dedicated to self-sovereign identity (SSI), and is the co-inventor of the vLEI, a key innovation for organizational identity.
Tom Fitzpatrick
Chairman
Tom is an experienced entrepreneur, investor, and advisor with more than 40 years in various industries. Tom chaired the board of FreightCar America, Inc. (Nasdaq: RAIL).
Dr. Samuel Smith
Advisor
Dr. Smith is the inventor of the KERI protocol. He has had a long career in machine learning, AI, and verifiable identity systems. He has over 100 peer-reviewed publications and has led federally funded research.