Top 17 blockchain startup ICOs in Jan
Which startups raising funds through ICOs are most likely to succeed? Using Aingel’s AI-based Deal Flow Analyzer, we generate an Inception Score™ that helps investors identify
the next game-changing companies in the blockchain space.
Here are the top 17 blockchain startups our algorithm picked out of 58 ICOs launching this month:
1. Colu
Inception Score™: 99%
Amount Raised: USD $26,600,000
ICO Date: 18 Jan 2018 — unknown
Founded: 2014
Number of Founders: 3
Headquarters: UK & Israel
What is it about?
Colu allows people to directly exchange digital cash locally in an attempt to encourage sustainable economic growth. By using local currencies, Colu encourages people to shop, eat, buy, and live local, strengthening the local economy as well as fostering social responsibility.
Who’s behind it?
Amos Meiri is co-founder and CEO. He held several positions at other companies, including head of dealing at eToro and foreign securities desk manager at Meitav Trade Securities. He studied Business Administration at the College of Management Israel.
Mark Smargon is a co-founder and VP blockchain. He previously founded Bitgo and Creatix, where he held the position of CEO for 13 years.
David Ring is co-founder and VP of R&D, with over 20 years of experience in software development and management. He co-founded eToro where he held the position of CTO. He also worked as a senior director at 888.com. He holds an MSc in Computer Science from IDC Israel, an MBA in Finance from Manchester and a BSc in Electronic Engineering from the Technion Israel.
2. BitMinutes
Inception Score™: 95%
ICO Date: 1–31 Jan 2018
Founded: 2017
Number of Founders: 4
Headquarters: US
What is it about?
BitMinutes is a unit of exchange for mobile payments that turns prepaid airtime into cash. The new cryptocurrency allows international mobile operators, retailers and trusted agents to support the transfer of money to all mobile phone users across the globe free of charge. BitMinutes is designed to use prepaid cellphone minutes to finance micro-loans, which are considered by banks as too small and unprofitable. By supporting small financial transactions, BitMinutes offers micro-loans for 50% less than bank rates.
Who’s behind it?
Tom Meredith is CEO with a solid background in the internet, financial services, and telecom. He worked at Digital Equipment Corporation, Franklin Computers, and Lisp Machine. He also founded VoxLink and Internet Gaming. He graduated from Harvard Business School with a specialization in Entrepreneurial Studies and Stanford University School of Engineering.
Morris Mwanga is a CTO and FinTech entrepreneur with over 12 years of programming experience. He developed mobile wallet technology and financial exchange in Sub-Saharan Africa. He holds BSc and MSc degrees in Computer Science.
Donald Chapman is head of business development, with over 15 years of experience as FinTech services and payments professional. He helped establish PayNet for Fidelity National Information Services and worked as a corporate consultant with Prudential Financial, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Discovery Communications, and Ocean Spray Cranberries. He holds an MBA with a specialization in investment from Babson College.
Peter Carruthers is head of banking, compliance and foreign exchange. He has been providing innovative FX solutions as an advisor to Fortune 500 clients for the past 25 years. He is the former director of capital markets at Citibank, and he also worked with Credit Suisse, Bank of Nova Scotia and Royal Bank of Scotland. He holds a BSc in Finance from Manhattan College and an MBA from Fordham University.
3. ATFS Lab
Inception Score™: 95%
ICO Date: 10 Jan — 9 Feb 2018
Founded: 2017
Number of Founders: 5
Headquarters: Cayman Islands
What is it about?
ATFS is an agricultural technology and food science company powered by Ethereum and Smart Contracts. The ATFS token finances the Smart Farm 2.0 and the production of plant-based meat. The company aspires to provide a solution to the world’s food crisis through agricultural technological advancements built on providing new revenue and supply systems as well as offering an alternative to meat consumption.
Who’s behind it?
Austin Chung is co-founder and CFO, with 16 years of experience in the financial sector, lifestyle goods manufacturing, marketing, and bio-venture companies. He is an expert at ICObench. He is the former CFO of Dmajor, and he holds a bachelor’s degree in Information Statistics from Korea University.
David Kim is co-founder and CEO, with more than 10 years of experience in business strategy at Samsung Group. He also worked with VC firms in Korea, including HOSEO Venture Capital and Benex Investment. He held VP positions at BNCP Co., Candle Media, A2X Games, and Creants. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Korea University.
Jay Choi is co-founder and COO, with over two decades of experience in management consulting and finance. He held several corporate positions at Korea Investment Bank, Ernst & Young, IBM, and KPMG. He holds a BBA from Korea University.
Allen Sung is co-founder and CTO, with more than two decades of engineering corporate experience at Daewoo Electronics, RealNetworks, DSPG, and DesignIt. He graduated from Seoul National University.
Rachel Chung is co-founder and marketing lead, with top global brands experience in tech, leisure, fashion, and home furnishing. She previously worked with Group IDD, Dmajor, and Visually Unboxed. She graduated from the University of British Columbia.
4. Origami Network
Inception Score™: 94%
ICO Date: 12 Jan — 15 Feb 2018
Founded: 2017
Number of Founders: 3
Headquarters: France
What is it about?
Origami Network is a global solution that aspires to build decentralized P2P marketplaces powered by blockchain. Businesses create their online marketplace on the Origami Marketplace, which acts as a platform for buying and selling goods and services online. Origami’s payment system is powered by Ethereum, ORI, and ERC20.
Who’s behind it?
Julien Bruitte is co-founder and CEO. He also founded Comptoir Du Code, CommentSeRuiner.com and Cute. Land. He is a former Atos software engineer. He holds a BSc from the Institute of Technology, Carlow with a specialization in Software Development.
Vincent Pichon is co-founder and CTO with a background in e-commerce and marketplace. He is also the CTO of CuteLand, and he previously founded CommentSeRuiner. Prior to that, he was a software engineer at Worldline by Atos. He studied at the University of Lille 1 Sciences and Technology, and the Institute of Technology, Carlow.
Alexandre Duquenoy is co-founder and CMO. He also co-founded Cute.Land, Du Code and CommentSeRuiner. He holds an MSc in Engineering from the University of Lille 1 Sciences and Technology, and a BSc in Software Development from the Institute of Technology, Carlow.
5. UbiquiCoin
Inception Score™: 93%
ICO Date: 16 Jan — 28 Feb 2018
Founded: 2017
Number of Founders: 3
Headquarters: Gibraltar
What is it about?
UbiquiCoin is a digital currency that is backed by a financial guarantee to overcome current cryptocurrency challenges, including high price volatility, transaction time latency and lack of support. UbiquiCoin addresses these problems by building a two-coin infrastructure. It provides one coin that is stable in value for transactions as well as another coin for investors’ free trading, which is supported by a revenue share from UbiquiCoin’s ecosystem. The currency scales with the size of the ICO.
Who’s behind it?
Jeff Mahony is co-founder and CEO, with a track record in financial services and technology. He has almost three decades of experience in developing internet strategy and managing large-scale projects for financial trading systems. He founded SaveDaily and Jeda Group. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a Bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Science.
AbdulQadir Mohidin is co-founder and CVO. He studied finance and technology in the US. He previously managed private and public equities at Schneider Finance and worked at Schneider Brothers ltd.
Steve Durbin is co-founder, president, and CFO with a career track in financial services. He founded Quail Bend Capital Partners in 2010 and served at The Watley Groupas as senior managing director and head of investment banking. He also worked at Red Mountain Capital Partners, Oak Hill Capital Partners, and JP Morgan. He graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Economics.
6. SureRemit
Inception Score™: 90%
ICO Date: 10 Jan — 10 Feb 2018
Founded: 2017
Number of Founders: 3
Headquarters: US
What is it about?
SureRemit is a blockchain-powered ecosystem that connects providers of non-cash remittances globally.
Who’s behind it?
Adeoye Ojo is co-founder and head of sales operations. He previously led marketing business intelligence at Jumia. He also worked as an e-commerce consultant. He holds a BSc in Statistics from the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta.
Babafemi Lawal is co-founder and head of technology operations. He worked with Jumia and Samsung. He holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Lagos.
Olaoluwa Samuel Biyi is co-founder and head of remittances. He worked with Venture Garden Group and Jumia. He is also a venture partner at Greenhouse Capital. He holds a BSc in Accounting and Finance from The University of the West Indies Cave Hill.
7. BitNation
Inception Score™: 89%
ICO Date: 15 Jan — 15 Feb 2018
Founded: 2014
Number of Founders: 3
Headquarters: Brazil
What is it about?
BitNation identifies itself as the world’s first virtual nation that allows people to make a choice on how to govern themselves peer-to-peer, locally and globally.
Who’s behind it?
Susanne Tarkowski Tempelhof is co-founder and CEO. She is an entrepreneur, author of The Googlement, and founder of Shabakat Corp. and Wise Strategic Communication. She started her career as a journalist with Magazine Groove in Sweden.
James Fennell is co-founder and COO, with tech solutions expertise in the areas of governance, security, conflict, and refugees. He holds advisory roles with several organizations, including DFID, G4S International and CARE. He has a BA in Geography from King’s College London and an MSc in Agricultural Engineering from Cranfield University.
Ma Wo is co-founder and head of infrastructure and security. He is the lead developer of Horizon Coin and NFD Coin. He studied Computer Science.
8. Scorum
Inception Score™: 89%
Amount Raised: USD $800,000
ICO Date: 14 Jan — 11 Feb 2018
Founded: 2017
Number of Founders: 4
Headquarters: Belarus
What is it about?
Scorum is a sports media platform powered by blockchain that rewards active users with tokens. Content creators are rewarded for contributing to the platform with written work, comments, and images while readers are rewarded for voting for quality sports content.
Who’s behind it?
Vladislav Artemyev is co-founder and CEO. He is an IT executive with more than 12 years of experience. He also co-founded TimeToDraft and TimeToDevelop. He studied at the Belarusian State University.
Alexei Belov is a co-founder and chief sports analyst. He has over eight years of experience in professional sports journalism and editing with numerous publications. He is also an expert in analyzing sports stats. He studied Journalism at the Belarusian State University.
Andrey Filipovich is co-founder and user experience director, with more than a decade of experience in UX/UI at Google, Thomson Reuters, and IMAX among others. He studied Engineering at the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics.
Mikalai Pobal is a co-founder and operations manager. He also co-founded TimeToDevelop and TimeToDraft. He studied International Economic Relations at the Belarusian State Economic University.
9. Thrive
Inception Score™: 89%
ICO Date: 15 Jan — 5 March 2018
Founded: 2017
Number of Founders: 1
Headquarters: Malta
What is it about?
Thrive is a blockchain-based premium decentralized advertising marketplace that competes with Google’s AdWords. It aspires to buy and sell advertising at low fees while paying people for sharing their data as well as for reviewing websites’ quality.
Who’s behind it?
Priya Parker is the founder of Thrive Labs. He previously worked as an analyst for PRS Legislative Research, and a program associate for the International Institute for Sustained Dialogue. He holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School of Government, an MBA from MIT Sloan and a BA in Political and Social Thought from the University of Virginia.
10. Solareum
Inception Score™: 88%
ICO Date: 11–18 Jan 2018
Founded: 2017
Number of Founders: 3
Headquarters: US
What is it about?
Backed by leading solar companies, Solareum is a currency powered by the Ethereum blockchain that offers discounts on renewable items, solar panels, solar heating, as well as rewards for ownership of solar-powered products.
Who’s behind it?
Kenneth Reece is co-founder and director of strategic relationships at America Green. He is the former CEO of The Brand Firm and NY Marketing Firm. He studied Network Communications at DeVry University.
Desiree Guinto is a co-founder and managing director at America Green. She is the former COO of the Brand Firm and ex-VP marketing at the NY Marketing Firm. She holds a BA in International Relations from De La Salle-College of St. Benilde. She specializes in recruiting, brand identity and market research among other operational related areas.
Karl Unterlechner is co-founder and CEO of InterfaceIT, former head of strategic business at GeoOp, and ex-COO at the SMART Group. He studied Business Information Systems and Management at RMIT University. He also earned a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Melbourne.
11. Skara
Inception Score™: 87%
Amount raised: GBP £2,500,000
ICO Date: 23 Jan — 23 Feb 2018
Founded: 2012
Number of Founders: 2
Headquarters: UK
What is it about?
Skara is a team combat video game for up to 10 players, which is available for PC users on the Steam Store. Skara revolves around different cultures contending to survive a cosmic catastrophe. It combines video games, novels, and comics.
Who’s behind it?
Pablo Rodriguez Valero is co-founder, CEO and creative director, with over 15 years of experience in developing and launching video games. He also teaches a Master in Video Games class at Alicante University. He has a BA in Fine Arts from the Universitat de Barcelona.
Cesar Ortega is a co-founder and executive producer. He has three engineering degrees and an MBA from the University of Oxford. He previously worked in Corporate and Investment Banking for global institutions.
12. CrowdCoinage
Inception Score™: 85%
ICO Date: 15–21 Jan 2018 (Presale); 22 Jan — 12 March 2018 (Sale)
Founded: 2017
Number of Founders: 4
Headquarters: Estonia
What is it about?
CrowdCoinage is an operating system for Ethereum-based fundraising for investors. It allows several parties such as startups, real estate investors and developers to launch crowdfunding and ICO campaigns through the sale of dividends or equity tokens on cryptocurrency exchanges. CrowdCoinage’s future cryptocurrency and blockchain-based financial services cover debit cards, insurance, P2P loans, wallet, and exchange among others.
Who’s behind it?
Peep Paum is co-founder and CEO. He took part in several technology projects over the past decade, providing many mobile apps with user-friendly UX and UI. He co-founded Indoor.Ninja, GoOffline.today and Totalstar. He studied Industrial Electronics Technology.
Tauno Poks is co-founder and CTO, with over a decade of experience as a developer. He is the former CEO and project manager of EstPres, and he studied Multimedia at the University of Tallinn.
Sven Kauber is a co-founder and senior backend blockchain developer, with over a decade of experience in managing servers, web development, and cloud-based services. He also worked with Freeman, Visa, and Qualcomm. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Turku.
Silver Liiv is a co-founder and frontend developer. He has around a decade of experience as a self-taught developer, building web experiences and helping companies grow their brands.
13. Dimensions Network
Inception Score™: 85%
ICO Date: 24 Jan — 24 Feb 2018
Founded: 2017
Number of Founders: 3
Headquarters: Singapore
What is it about?
Dimensions Network is building next-generation trading platforms of cryptocurrency, supporting standard coin pairs, exchange aggregators and more. The services will expand to offer a cryptographically secure derivative trading as well as a real-time transactional currency.
Who’s behind it?
Stephen Mullens is co-founder and CEO, with expertise in corporate governance, risk management, JavaScript, Python, SQL among others. He also held several positions at Schlumberger. He has a Master’s degree in Physics from the University of Nottingham.
Rin Chwe is co-founder and head of operations. She is an entrepreneur who also founded
Snovits and Dental Province. She holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration and Management from Cardiff Metropolitan University.
Manu Datta is co-founder and CTO, with experience as senior developer for top banks, including Barclays, Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers. He studied Business Technology at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.
14. VVTOKEN
Inception Score™: 84%
Amount Raised: USD $6,100,000
ICO Date: 22 Jan 2018 — unknown
Founded: 2017
Number of Founders: 1
Headquarters: Belize
What is it about?
VVToken is a platform that offers blockchain-based payment security while delivering financial appreciation to cardholders through two products: CyberBank™ Platinum Debit Card for unbanked and low-income consumers, and the CyberBank™ Black Card, a cryptocurrency-based debit card that allows the transfer of numerous currencies.
Who’s behind it?
Lucas Sodre is the founder and CTO. He is an integration API specialist and the architect of mnichannels and Point of Sale software which are used by banks. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Toronto.
15. Decentralized Loyalty Token
Inception Score™: 82%
ICO Date: 16–30 Jan 2018
Founded: 2017
Number of Founders: 1
Headquarters: Seychelles
What is it about?
Decentralized Loyalty Token is a loyalty program for customers and business people who want to build leads. DLT connects gamification marketing with loyalty as well as customers’ need for money and merchants’ need for profit by introducing a cryptocurrency to loyalty programs.
Who’s behind it?
Grzegorz Sperczyński is CEO and founder. He authored a book on assets building in early-stage companies. He previously founded a seed capital and VC fund, and the Rcpartners initiative that supports implementing new technologies. He studied Management at the University of Warmia and Mazury.
16. Origin Trail
Inception Score™: 80%
ICO Date: 15 Jan — 28 Feb 2018
Founded: 2013
Number of Founders: 3
Headquarters: Slovenia
What is it about?
OriginTrail enables data sharing on all kinds of supply chains, helping companies in exchanging relevant data and securing a means for increased accountability, brand protection, and efficiency.
Who’s behind it?
Tomaž Levak is co-founder and CEO, with experience in managing tech projects in the Middle East and Europe. He holds a Master’s degree in HR Management from the University of Ljubljana, and a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations.
Žiga Drev is co-founder and COO, with experience in managing complex supply chains in Europe and Asia. He holds an MBA from the University of Ljubljana, and a BA in International Relations and Affairs.
Branimir Rakić is co-founder and CTO, with experience in optimizing telecom networks and powering supply chains with the blockchain technology. He is an adjunct lecturer at SAE Institute. He holds an MSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering.
17. CryptoBnb
Inception Score™: 80%
ICO Date: 15 Jan — 15 March 2018
Founded: 2017
Number of Founders: 1
Headquarters: UAE
What is it about?
CryptoBnB is a rental and tenant matching marketplace, which aims at improving options available to travelers. It offers more search efficiency, lower short-term rental fees, and more flexibility using blockchain smart contracts.
Who’s behind it?
Tariq Alwahedi is a founder and FinTech entrepreneur, with over 20 years of global work experience across diverse sectors, including oil and gas, construction, food and beverage, and real estate. He holds a BSc in Petroleum Engineering from The University of Tulsa and an EMBA from Kellogg School of Management.
How do we score companies?
The Inception Score is based on a Monte Carlo wrapped machine learning algorithm developed at NYU where we analyzed more than 6,000 startup founders based on their educational background, work history, startup experience and personality (deduced using AI from analyzing their digital footprint).
We input this data into our patent-pending algorithm which then generates multiple seed-stage investment portfolios of startups predicted to be successful. The percentage represents the number of times each startup is selected in 1,000 iterations of portfolio generation. With backtesting, overall accuracy is 95% and the true positive rate is 70%.
READERS OF THIS POST ARE NOT TO CONSTRUE THE CONTENTS HEREIN OR ANY PRIOR OR SUBSEQUENT COMMUNICATION FROM THE AUTHOR AS LEGAL, TAX, OR INVESTMENT ADVICE. EACH READER SHOULD CONSULT WITH AND RELY ON ITS OWN PERSONAL COUNSEL, ACCOUNTANT, OR OTHER ADVISORS AS TO LEGAL, TAX, AND ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF THE INFORMATION DESCRIBED HEREIN AND ITS SUITABILITY FOR THE READER.
