science

Nov 13 2020

Portugal based VC Firm Faber Closes €20.5 Million Round for its AI and Machine Learning focused Fund for European Startups

Portugal-based VC firm Faber has revealed that it has closed a €20.5 million round for Faber Tech II, which is a fund that will primarily focus on supporting early-stage initiatives. Faber plans to commit €30 million to the fund that will offer assistance to startups based in Southern Europe (particularly Iberia).

The VC firm is interested in projects involving artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), data science and other emerging technologies. Faber Tech II has invested in SWORD Health’s €15.6 million Series A round. The fund also led the pre-seed round for YData, the first dataset experimentation platform. Additionally, Faber has taken part in a pre-seed round for Emotai.

After completing an investment cycle that began in 2013, the Lisbon-headquartered VC company was one of the first investors in many high-potential initiatives such as Seedrs (which was co-founded by Carlos Silva, who’s notably one of Faber’s key partners, and recently revealed that it would be merging operations with CrowdCube). As reported by Tech.eu, Faber has also invested in Unbabel, Codacy, Hole19, and several other Portuguese startups.

Jeff Lynn, Co-Founder at Seedrs, has stated:

“Faber was Seedrs’ first VC investor and has been a huge help to us since then. From the contributors on our Board to the resources that the whole Faber network brings, they have been invaluable supporters and a constant pleasure to work with.”

The Faber Tech II Fund received investments from the European Investment Fund and the local Financial Development Institution. Both organizations have reportedly contributed a total of €15 million. The initiative is also supported by the Investment Plan for Europe and also through the Portugal Tech program. Several other private institutional and individual investors joined as well.

The Faber team states:

“We combine investment focus with active and specialized support to help you succeed. Faber is a founder-first firm looking to invest in teams with a global vision starting from Europe.”

They added:

“We are looking for talented people driven by values. Starting a company is a challenging and complex problem. That’s why we believe in partnering with highly specialized tech teams aiming to build a diverse, balanced and inclusive culture with an open mindset, endless curiosity and relentless ambition to conquer the world.”

Source

Nov 13 2020

Future of Internet and Global Economy Conference to be Held Monday

Dorado Genesis and Crypto Mondays will be hosting their first ever event, The Future of the Internet and the Global Economy this Monday, according to a press release from the group.

It will consist of cryptocurrency leaders getting involved together in a 3-hour online event, hosting in Puerto Rico, the release notes. It will take place on Zoom.

Topics will cover “bitcoin, mining, stablecoin and staking fundamentals, no barrier entry, entrepreneurship opportunities in crypto, the 4th Technological Revolution and the future of the internet and the global economy,” the release notes.

Speakers include but are not limited to:

ANDREW KEYS – Managing Partner at Digital Asset Risk Management Advisors (DARMA Capital), who recently partnered with LiquidStake to tackle the staking Liquidity problem for Ethereum 2.0 with a $50M allocation.
BROCK PIERCE – Co-founder of Tether, the #1 most traded cryptocurrency with annual trading volume of over US $10 Trillion and founder of Blockchain Capital, that has helped develop the STO (security token offering) to further secure investments in digital currency. Pierce also ran as an independent candidate for the USA presidential 2020 election.
MICHAEL TERPIN – Founder and CEO of Transform Group, whose divisions include Transform PR, a global public relations firm that has served more than 200 clients in the blockchain field and helped launch more than 100 ICO’s and CoinAgenda, a global event series for cryptocurrency investors and blockchain innovators since 2014. Terpin also co-founded BitAngels, the world’s first angel network for digital currency startups and co-founded the Caribbean Blockchain Association in 2015 along with Gabriel Abed and Roger Ver.
CRYSTAL ROSE – Entrepreneur, investor and Forbes Top 10 Women in Blockchain. Co-Founder of shEOS, a female-run block producer on the EOS network and the shEOS Foundation, providing computer science scholarships to young women.
NICK SPANOS – Founder of the Bitcoin Center, the first physical peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange opened just 100 feet from the New York Stock Exchange. Spanos and the Bitcoin Center were also featured in the Netflix movie “Banking on Bitcoin.” Spanos is a holder of blockchain patents, such as voting on the blockchain, and most recently founded the decentralized bonding curve platform Zap.org.
SCOTT WALKER – Serial Entrepreneur and founding LP in Blockchain.Capital with investments in Coinbase, Kraken and more. Walker is one of the most knowledgeable crypto investors in the sector.
CRAIG SELLARS – Leads the development of global blockchain innovations as the inventor of the stablecoin, the digital US dollar on top of the Bitcoin blockchain. Co-founder of Tether, his current development focus is on the creation of open-source decentralized identity protocols and applications.
GEOFF McCABE – CEO of The Divi Project. He also owns businesses in virtual reality, gaming, two hotels, and a blockchain-based media company, LightingWorks.
PEDRO RIVERA – Community Builder, Blockchain investor and advocate. A Puerto Rican who returned to the Island after Hurricane Maria to help rebuild the Island though the Crypto Community. Founder of Crypto Mondays San Juan.

Future of Internet and Global Economy Conference to be Held Monday

Source

Oct 29 2020

Chinese city seeks to power urban governance and more using blockchain tech

Authorities in Chengdu, China plan to adopt blockchain for several use cases throughout the city, including urban governance, cross-border trade, smart manufacturing, and agriculture.

During the 2020 Chengdu Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fair, the city’s first International Blockchain Industry Expo, Lu Tiecheng, secretary of the Party Group of the Chengdu New Economy Committee, released the “Chengdu Blockchain Application Scenario Supply Action Plan.”

According to a local media outlet, Red Star News, this plan will allow blockchain adoption applications to be submitted by contributors in a variety of fields such as education, healthcare, financial services, and intellectual property. Authorities expect to form around “two to three” blockchain cluster development areas as part of this program over the next two years.

The plan also mentioned blockchain’s usefulness when it comes to legal compliance, stating that officials expect to strengthen data collection and to promote the “unified management, risk prevention, and control” of urban operations.

The secretary of the Party Group of the Chengdu New Economy Committee stated that blockchain could additionally be applied to the medical field. He suggested that distributed technology could be used for electronic medical records, electronic prescription circulation, material verification, vaccine traceability, and medical data sharing purposes.

During an interview with The Paper, Wu Zhongze, China’s former vice-minister for Science and Technology, stated that there was “not much difference between where China and leading economies such as the United States and Europe” stand in terms of developing blockchain-based ecosystems.

Chinese city seeks to power urban governance and more using blockchain tech

Source

Sep 28 2020

Claire Gillespie from Skills Development Scotland Says Training Programs for Workers can Help Fintech Sector Make Progress in Post COVID World

Claire Gillespie, Digital Technology Skills Manager at Skills Development Scotland, recently explained that apprenticeships or training programs can really help the Fintech sector with making a recovery and also substantial progress after the pandemic has passed (even though it’s still not clear if/when this will happen).

The COVID-19 crisis has forced many companies to re-evaluate their business strategies. Many more individual consumers and companies are conducting transactions online because physical business locations had been shut down due to nationwide lockdowns in many countries throughout the world.

Gillespie tells DIGIT:

“Despite the many economic and (and health) challenges, the tech industry – and fintech in particular – remains relatively resilient and employers are still looking to recruit. But what might get lost during the current crisis is the need to attract new entrants into the industry, and the provision of the training and support they need to help us – and you – fill the skills gap in tech.”

She added:

“While we understand that employing and training new starts can sometimes be time-consuming and costly, apprenticeships offer an ideal solution. You get passionate and motivated talent who bring fresh eyes and energy to your business, and they essentially hit the ground running, contributing to your bottom line from day one as they put into practice what they learn.”

Gillespie explains that training programs can be for everyone, not just for people starting out their careers. She also notes that work-based learning programs may be good for upskilling or reskilling staff members who have already been working at a company for a long time. She also mentions that if job requirements change, then an appropriate technology apprenticeship can help with reskilling experienced professionals.

She further noted that the Coronavirus crisis has created new challenges and she thinks that the technology sector has the potential to respond effectively. She pointed out that the “No One Left Behind” digital campaign and Scotland’s Tech Army are both good examples of initiatives that can help train professionals for jobs of the future.

Gillespie confirmed that her organization is offering graduate-level apprenticeship programs in Cybersecurity, Data Science, IT (Software Development and other areas), Digital Applications, Data Analysis, among others.

As reported recently, a Chartered Fintech Professional Qualification will be offered to financial tech employees working in China and Singapore.

Source

Sep 24 2020

Chinese state-endorsed public chain to act as a global DeFi bridge, says Conflux Founder

Conflux Network, a permissionless blockchain project which is endorsed by the Chinese state, told Cointelegraph on Sept. 22 that the project has officially launched its Tree Graph Research Institute with the Shanghai government.

According to Fan Long, Founder of Conflux and Director of the TreeGraph Research Institute, the Tree-Graph Blockchain Research Institute will experiment with local states to build a regulatory compliance platform that can bridge global DeFi applications and government regulations. He added that:

“DeFi is a new world and while it appears as though it may pose a challenge for regulators, they appear willing to listen. At this stage, the most important thing is to maintain a reliable communication channel between two sides— the DeFi innovators and the regulators.”

When it comes to new techniques and innovations, the Chinese government has shown signs of tolerance for experimentation in the past. Fan indicated that the complexity surrounding DeFi and other relevant distributed innovations will make open communication crucial for continued legislative acceptance. He stated that:

“Regulators need a reliable way to learn what the new technique is about and where it might lead us to. Innovators need a way to understand the concerns and red lines of regulators.”

At the moment, Conflux is working with the Shanghai government on several sandbox projects. Fan told Cointelegraph that these projects include integrating blockchain borrowing and lending services into Shanghai’s Pudong Development Bank, and leveraging the Shanghai free trade zone’s unique regulatory framework to devise a unique stablecoin for the region, The Founder explained:

“Shanghai Free Trade Zone is outside of capital control of China where RMB is offshore with its own set of rules, so we are trying to come up with some regulation breakthroughs with experimenting under the free zone framework.”

Compared with the central bank’s digital currency, or CBDC, Fan pointed out that although a CBDC will allow the central government to maintain control of the financial activities, it would be hard for such a centralized form of digital currency to be accepted outside of China.

Conflux is trying to either create a free zone stablecoin or build a public permissionless cross chain for the CBDC.

The project, which began its life as a research project at Tsinghua University, has been working to provide a robust and cheap framework for developers to build decentralized finance applications. Fan explained that:

“Conflux Network seeks to provide a POW network with transaction speeds an order of magnitude faster. The key enabler technique is a novel DAG-based ledger structure together with an optimistic concurrency control to achieve a consistent order of transactions among all the nodes in the network.”

Fan believes that DeFi projects will only be able to go mainstream through willfully enacted compliance measures which evolve alongside government regulations. Blockchain and DeFi are new areas for regulators. Although he cannot speak to how regulators will go about this, his predicts that:

“Decentralization will make it more difficult for regulators to control DeFi products, but there are still possibilities to exercise controls at the boundary between the decentralized world and the centralized world.”

The Shanghai Municipal Government, one of the states endorsing the project, is interested in exploring how the city can leverage blockchain techniques to integrate traditional finance with decentralized financial services, says Fan.

In order to connect global DeFi projects and regulations, the company also created the Conflux Open Defi initiative.

Members include: Sequoia Capital, Blockpower Capital, Antelope Holdings, dForce, DeBank, and MCDEX along with Chinese state support through the Shanghai Science and Technology Committee. Fan says Open DeFi aims to unite Eastern and Western DeFi markets through three globally focused program tracks: risk management, new liquidity strategies, and incubation & innovation.

Chinese state-endorsed public chain to act as a global DeFi bridge, says Conflux Founder

Source