[HAVELOCK] Provenance ASIC SHA-256&SCRYPT Offering Monday June 9th

[havelock]

Havelock Investments is pleased to announce the upcoming offering of Provenance ASIC:

Provenance ASIC “PROV” is an ASIC design and fabrication company engaged in end stage engineering and fabrication to produce their Bitcoin ASIC and Scrypt ASIC concomitantly.

Our 28nm ASIC design architecture dubbed the “Creator” to be used at the foundry level allows for simultaneous production of the 1TH “Creator 1” Bitcoin ASIC, 256GH “Creator 2” Bitcoin ASIC and the 4MH “Creator 3” SCRYPT ASIC from the same wafer batch. This unique ability, and the lower costs associated with the FDSOI process, lends Provenance ASIC a competitive advantage with regards to $/GH/W and unparalleled ASIC diversification with essentially three different ASIC products available from one production batch.

Our 28nm SHA256 design, dubbed the “Creator” architecture, produces 256GH with die-level simulations indicating 0.17W – 0.3W per GH. Similarly, our Scrypt implementation produces 4MH per die at 5-8W per MH. This performance is possible thanks to our relationship with the above mentioned FD-SOI capable foundry, where both chips can be fabricated simultaneously. Currently, Provenance ASIC is the only crypto-currency related venture with access to this technology. As illustrated by Cointerra and Hashfast, it is feasible to integrate 4 dies per package, allowing us the option of the first 1TH single-package SHA256 product on the market.

The funding will be used to cover all costs associated with final back-end engineering, NRE, foundry costs, operating capital, first batch, and miner costs for the first generation of ASICs and miners.

The Offering:

Monday June 9th, 2014

200,000 Units at     ฿0.0020  for a total of BTC400

Thank you for your support

[NotLambchop]

Kill it before it lays eggs.

[tempestb]

Where's the prospectus to this?  It's not on the HL site that I can see, or on their barely put together website with no contact information.

Not sure what kind of research is going into vetting companies but this looks like someone started this about a month ago.

[ibuyltc]

Where's the prospectus to this?  It's not on the HL site that I can see, or on their barely put together website with no contact information.

Not sure what kind of research is going into vetting companies but this looks like someone started this about a month ago.

https://www.havelockinvestments.com/reportdownload.php?id=99

[Anotheranonlol]

Where's the prospectus to this?  It's not on the HL site that I can see, or on their barely put together website with no contact information.

Not sure what kind of research is going into vetting companies but this looks like someone started this about a month ago.

briefly:
they want to raise quarter of a million $ + in exchange for 2% equity
so far they have FPGA simulation.
if they raise full amount of funds, they go to 28nm, else 40nm
they'll pay dividends until original investment is recouped, then that's your lot?

team seems competent enough, though I'd personally be a little concerned with founder writing this

So BFL isn't a scam after all?

People are pretty quick to call SCAM on here.  They could have handled a lot of this better, but I still believe they'll ship Something.  It's a bit perverse that missing your specs and timeline by a moderate margin is considered failure and scam, but sites like kickstarter and indiegogo completely miss entire product lines with no recourse for refund, yet they're treated as legit business ventures.

Angry customers does not equal scam.  BFL screwed up pretty bad, but it appears they're still building something.

sorry but if/when prov fail to deliver or their specs they will deservedly be considered failure and scam also like bfl.
only my opinion here but risk reward ratio not seem to make sense

[tsm13]

10 million shares, assuming no increase in ipo share price that would value the company at 22k BTC or $14.3m(650$/coin)

Based on Year One
28nm Profits $10m
or per share ($1)

40nm Profits $4m
or per share($0.40)

Please correct me if my maths is wrong, rounding was used.

Edit: Looking over the prospectus some more, if they ipo out  and get  $14m this covers 100% of their expenses, so to me this looks like an interest free loan rather an investment, imho. Can the team not put any capital to the project?

[ThunderSheep]

Your math appears accurate enough, tsm13.

The prospectus was a little light on details for my tastes however my main beef is that I don't see $14m worth of value yet.  Another company that wants me to pay, today, what they would be worth after using my money to become successful.  Does nobody watch Shark Tank or Dragon's Den?

I'd respectfully disagree with Anotheranonlol that failure does not automatically equal scam though I'd be hard-pressed to prove that using only the Bitcoin Community as examples.

[DebitMe]

They are valuing themselves at $14M and are only expecting $10M in sales in the first year, their valuation seems really high to me, especially since they estimate another 6 months before receiving their first chip.  Perhaps if this chip was to come out a little sooner that value could be warrented, but then they would also have way over 10M in sales at that power to GH ratio.

In all, too highly valued by not offering enough equity.

EDIT:  Looks like I was beaten to the punch in pointing that out.

[NotLambchop]

They are valuing themselves at $14M and are only expecting $10M in sales in the first year, their valuation seems really high to me...

Would you believe six million?

[provasic]

Thank you for your responses, and your interest.  Please allow us a few moments to respond to some of your concerns.

As linked by ibuyltc, the current Prospectus can be found here:  ( https://www.havelockinvestments.com/reportdownload.php?id=99 ).  It is intentionally concise; a 50-page initial proposal document usually ends up in the trash.

The website ( http://www.provasic.co/ ) is new and sparse.  Our focus has been on the engineering aspects of the projects, not the PR.  However, we plan to develop the website now that we have gone public, so please let us know what sort of content you would like to see.  Contact Info is available under the 'Contact Us' menu button, and we will continue to monitor this thread.

The ASIC design team has been working on the architecture and design of the chip for over a year: lots of optimizations and validation of various techniques to reduce power while keeping performance high.  The ProvASIC entity was created once we found a solution that would enable a compelling ASIC product.  ProvASIC was specifically chartered to enable unit holders in the ASIC development and sales.

Our revenue estimate for the first year is $24M.  The $10M number on the Prospectus is the Net Income, aka Profit.  Combined with the value of the IP/NRE, a $14M valuation does not seem unreasonable.  Additionally, this is a long term venture.  2nd and 3rd year profit estimates can deviate wildly, so we kept our focus on the 1st year cash flows when drafting the Prospectus.

Initial Unit holders receive priority dividends until repaid, however they retain their units after repayment.  Once repayment is complete, future dividends are paid to all unit holders, including holders of the initial units.

Hopefully this clarifies things a bit.

[jonsi]

Stop donating your money to strangers!!! If this company valuation of $14.3m is correct they will have no problem finding another $250.000. If they will be successful you can buy their product so it's a win, but if not then... aaaand it's gone.

P.S. Another new low from havelock.

[provasic]

ProvASIC IPO is now live!

https://www.havelockinvestments.com/fund.php?symbol=PROV

[Korbman]

[...]
Our revenue estimate for the first year is $24M.  The $10M number on the Prospectus is the Net Income, aka Profit.  Combined with the value of the IP/NRE, a $14M valuation does not seem unreasonable.
[...]

A $14M valuation is completely reasonable for a company with an established product, history of sales, and adequate financials.

Also, I see that the funding generated by the IPO will be used to essentially build the mining rigs, from chips all the way through custom cases, as well as provide capital to run the operation. Given that's a critical step to success, don't you find an offering of 2% to investors a bit...insulting?

[pleiotropik]

[...]
Our revenue estimate for the first year is $24M.  The $10M number on the Prospectus is the Net Income, aka Profit.  Combined with the value of the IP/NRE, a $14M valuation does not seem unreasonable.
[...]

A $14M valuation is completely reasonable for a company with an established product, history of sales, and adequate financials.

Also, I see that the funding generated by the IPO will be used to essentially build the mining rigs, from chips all the way through custom cases, as well as provide capital to run the operation. Given that's a critical step to success, don't you find an offering of 2% to investors a bit...insulting?

Forget the "insulting" part of the equation. where's the sunk capital costs?  Who are the angel investors, how much money has already been invested in the biz?

[tempestb]

The reward isn't factoring in the risk.  We take the risk of investing with a start-up that is entering a highly competitive field, late in the game, with an unproven track record.  It doesn't make financial sense to risk money on something that is likely to fail.

[pleiotropik]

i'll buy a couple of shares... just in case the 'hail mary'  works. I'll sacrifice a latte for that.

[jjdub7]

So...now you can start a $14m company with one design in the mining fab space, apparently.

Nice prospectus, but do you have:
- a disclosure of your angels
- a detailed pricing strategy
- partnerships/contact with major pools to discuss specs/performance data
- a marketing strategy
- potential batch-buyers/re-sellers

IMO, your offering is competing with TAT's old ASICminer subshares, and when potential investors view the two assets side-by-side, you guys are going to struggle to pull in any equity, especially if you're only offering 2%.

[🏰 TradeFortress 🏰]

Investors: 100% chance of losing money here.

[sporket]

@Havelock; provasic:  I warned you guys

The American Passenger Pigeon, once a staple food of American Indians, is now extinct.
Consider the chilling parallels between this noble bird's tragic tale and the plight of the Bitcoin Investor.

"At a nesting site in Petoskey, Michigan in 1878, 50,000 birds Bitcoin investors were killed each day for nearly five months. The surviving adults attempted a second nesting at new sites, but were killed by professional hunters before they had a chance to raise any young."^[1]
...
"Still another way [of hunting Bitcoin investors] was to simply set a nesting tree on fire, cooking the doves investors or collecting them as they tried to escape."^[1]
...
"Two farmers from the vicinity of Russelsville, distant more than a hundred miles, had driven upwards of three hundred hogs to be fattened on the pigeons Bitcoin investors which were to be slaughtered. Here and there, the people employed in plucking and salting what had already been procured, were seen sitting in the midst of large piles of these birds amateur financiers. The dung lay several inches deep, covering the whole extent of the roosting-place."^[1]

1.  Passenger Pigeon, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_Pigeon#Hunting

[pleiotropik]

With a grand total of 1,950 shares sold (3.5BTC, or almost 1% of the offering), i think somebody will have to go back to the drawing board.