Sam Yilmaz
General Partner at Bloccelerate
Sam Yilmaz
General Partner at Bloccelerate
Washington DC-Baltimore Area
Overview
Work Experience
General Partner - COO
2018 - Current
At Bloccelerate we seek out blockchain and DLT use cases we can finance, grow, evangelize. Investing in enterprise use-cases is the way to bring blockchain to users today. In so doing we can build equity value today and help build the tools, awareness, and demand. The companies and tools -be they protocol enablers, developer environments, identity management solutions or oracles- that arise out of this will empower the decentralized autonomous future that we wish to accelerate.
Strategic Investments and Finance Specialist
2017 - 2018
Lead due diligence in strategic investments in e-commerce, IOT, blockchain and Hyperloop companies Create the framework and process of CVC investments Create and supervise implementation of Order2Cash ERP algorithms within subsidiaries Create financial models with scenario and sensitivity analysis for subsidiaries Perform benchmarking and market research, shaping product and sale strategy Perform itemized cost structure studies identifying runoffs and high-potential products Curate reports to BIST and SPK as part of IPO process
Venture Partner
2016 - 2016
idaCapital is a venture fund of the projected size of 50 million EUR. It seeks equity investments in companies valued at the 2-20 million EUR range, occasionally arranging mezzanine or subordinated loans for other institutional investors to participate. • Sought and identified investable companies and sourced deals from accelerators, incubators, and angel networks • Led due diligence and screening meetings and performed analyses to evaluate the candidate investments in terms of the fit in the overall fund strategy and in terms of the general risk/return profile
Managing Partner
2013 - 2016
DApps Fund, the size of 15 Million USD invested in early stage IT and FinTech Start-ups; reported 360% BTC-denominated ROI in ~3 yrs • Raised over 2.5 MM USD as General Partner for the Fund to invest in blockchain enabled share economy apps • Presented as keynote speaker at 10+ conferences globally to find deals and evangelize portfolio investments • Supported capital deployment to portfolio investments through term sheet formation, negotiations, and projections • Supervised yearly reports and preparation of LP reports, in compliance with the subscription agreements • Recruited experts, employees, and partners to companies; strategic sponsors to fund (i.e. E&Y, Perkins Coie)
Executive Director
2013 - 2014
Grew BitAngels from 30 to 500 members during my tenure as ED Brokered relationships between investors in the space and companies Invested in Omni (formerly known as Omni), Bitcoin and Ethereum
VP of Product Development
2012 - 2013
Engine Inc. was a software company using natural language processing and artificial intelligence to help information workers navigate their personal information in a faster, easier, and more organized way, saving ~35 mins/day per user. • Raised over 1 MM USD for the private placement offering through pitch competitions and angel networks • Provided oversight to product development based on user input and partnership opportunities in personal AI space
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Research Assistant
2012 - 2013
Researched translatable self assembly methods cell scaffolds to exposing cell self organization in 3D Investigated top-down and bottom-up approaches for 3D chip assembly Wrote book chapter on methods of self assembly for artificial tissue engineering
Engineering Fellow
2012 - 2013
Worked to transfer the expertise available within INBT to our Tanzanian partner GCS (gcstz.com) Developed a new bicycle-attached mill technology for maize grinding
Coordinator
2011 - 2012
Networked with professionals and arranged talks for 30-60 members of the Economics and Finance Club Topics included automated trading, foreign exchange, behavioral finance, econophysics, and international development
Intern
2011 - 2011
Benchmarked in the automotive, consumer durables, finance, and energy sectors Reviewed analyst reports, annual reports, news coverage, and investor and shareholder presentations Prepared investor relations deliverables of Koc's relative performance Managed investor database
Education
MSE
2010 - 2012
BA
2005 - 2010
Master of Arts (M.A.)
2015 - 2016
High School Diploma
2002 - 2005