BlockStart 2nd Open Call for SME Adopters of Blockchain Technology – a New Piloting Opportunity

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BlockStart is a pan-European DLT/blockchain partnership programme. Its main objective is to facilitate goal-oriented, business-focused, and mutually beneficial partnerships between DLT/blockchain solution providers and end-user SMEs.

In its 2nd Open Call, BlockStart was looking for seed-, early- and growth-stage DLT/blockchain startups from all over the EU and H2020 Associated Countries. This 3 stage-immersive partnership programme (Ideation Kick-off > Prototype > Pilot) manages a fund of €795,000 aimed at financing DLT/blockchain technologies in the fields of fintech, ICT and retail, with selected startups receiving up to €20,000 equity-free funding per pilot. After an intense selection and evaluation process, the top 10 DLT/blockchain developers have been selected to further develop their Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for the next 4 months, with the support of BlockStart. After this, only 5 will be selected for the programme’s Pilot stage, and partner with innovative SMEs willing to adopt the blockchain-based solutions developed in the scope of the Acceleration Programme.

The offer

One of the main objectives of BlockStart is to encourage collaboration between end-user SMEs and potential DLT/blockchain specialists, as technology providers, and to promote knowledge about the benefits and opportunities of these technologies. This collaboration is of utmost importance in the Pilot stage of BlockStart’s Partnership Programme, where startups will have the chance to test their solutions together with end-user SMEs.

SME adopters will benefit from up to €3,000 equity-free funding and will have the chance to implement DLT/blockchain pilot solutions with BlockStart’s top 10 startups that have gone through the previously described programme.

Our top 10 startups

Stonize is a digital gateway for alternative investments. With a unique combination of API-enabled trusted technologies, Stonize provides the infrastructure to aggregate alternative financial products and process related investments online.

Polaris Tx, by Sixphere, is a distributed blockchain-based service where users design data schemes, and register and sign any kind of business data transactions using them. Sharing and open-data access are allowed.

Track & trace refrigerated goods like medicines, vaccines, meat, fish, and dairy with sensors and trackers from Sensefinity. This solution records information in a blockchain that acts as an untampered source of trust and as a shared hub of information for different stakeholders (producers, distributors, and consumers).

MyLime supplies a platform for the registration of product information and media contents, stored in blockchain. Data visualization and updating are possible through interfaces for companies and an app for product owners.

With Motoblockchain, the motorcycle owner can manually save all motorcycle information and the motorcycle itself can upload information recorded by Motoblockchain sensors. All the information is collected into the motorcycle’s digital identity, guaranteed by the blockchain.

LoanXChain is the first digital secondary loan marketplace, where resources smoothly flow from savers and investors to families and corporates thanks to revamped lending capability.

Knowtary aims to create digital identities and registrations for properties or goods and integrates them with company registries and notary services, so that transactions are secure, traceable, indisputable, and reliable.

IsLucid brings the benefits created by the blockchain to online meetings, enabling the creation of traceable agreements and connecting widely distributed information on the essence of agreements to the blockchain.

Minorka, from Ibisa, helps SMEs benefiting from the value of Earth Observation satellite data for their businesses, namely independent farmers & agri-cooperatives (risk management, smart farming, revenue forecast, etc.), food related SMEs (supply chain risks, revenue forecast) and financial services (loss/fraud detection and credit scoring).

ComeTogether gives control of the entire ticket lifecycle to event organizers, with the power of blockchain. They have also developed BackTogether (Covid-19 passports), a health component integrated into ComeTogether, enabling safe restart of events.

How to apply

Any European or H2020 Associated Country SME operating in the fields of fintech, ICT and retail is eligible as a participant and should fill in an online application form at the F6S platform. Deadline for applications is March 11th at 5pm CET (Brussels Time).

For more information on application criteria and how to apply, you can go to blockstart.eu and consult our FAQ section.