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Feb 22 2021

Enterprise Blockchain Platform for Real Estate, Ubitquity, Is Partnering LavaTrust to Streamline Closing Operations

Ubitquity LLC, an enterprise-grade blockchain-enabled platform for real estate and title recordkeeping, is teaming up with LavaTrust Consultancy in order to gain key insights into the US real estate closing sector.

Headquartered in Vancouver, BC, Canada, LavaTrust Consultancy aims to bring its industry expertise and valuable experience in the real estate markets (USA / Canada), as well as the global digital assets sector.

The founders at LavaTrust have reportedly been looking to streamline the real estate sector with the adoption of blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT). Now mainly focused on education and consultation, company CEO Joy Case is pleased to have some sort of alignment with Ubitquity, which is an established player in real estate applications for blockchain tech.

Having “vision” and “values” aligned with Ubitquity, LavaTrust aims to open up networks and key opportunities for both to participate in the restructuring of outdated technology and business processes with greater efficiency of DLT-based solutions.

Nathan Wosnack, Founder and CEO at Ubitquity, stated:

“Ubitquity and I are excited to be working with LavaTrust Consultancy. Ms. Case and her team bring a wealth of knowledge and years of experience in the real estate and digital marketplaces. Combining this with our blockchain applications will be mutually beneficial and make a long-term impact on the evolution of the real estate closing industry,”

Wosnack also mentioned that they benefit from leveraging LavaTrust Consultancy’s CEO Joy Case’s “trusted” network developed by taking advantage of 15 years of experience in the real estate sector (residential, commercial and development initiatives). He added that as LavaTrust has “strategic” relationships with Family Offices and various other investors, their potential for new collaborations has “expanded tremendously.”

Joy Case, CEO and Founder of LavaTrust Consultancy, remarked:

“I am excited and grateful to partner with Ubitquity to help galvanize blockchain adoption in the often antiquated processes within the real estate industry. Ubitquity has various blockchain-based products that can serve the industry with enhanced efficiency, increased security in the transaction process, less friction and increased agility in the closing lifecycle, parallel recordkeeping data storage, alternative revenue streams for its partners, future-proofed settlement solutions and so much more.”

Case also noted that with the emergence of more regulatory clarity in the US pertaining to stablecoins and banks now being permitted to custody crypto-assets, she sees Ubitquity offering an “autonomous” future-compatible settlement platform through its SmartEscrow offering to the future decentralized finance (DeFi) real estate industry.

She added that LavaTrust Consultancy is looking forward to working with Ubitquity so that they can keep innovating and offer “real value to the real estate closing industry together.”

Ubitquity has several Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) tools currently available on its “unanimity” platform, that it has integrated across key industries such as aviation and real estate for escrow and title closing support, title abstracting, digital, hybrid, and paper notary support, smart contract management, and secure document management.

Ubitquity can also help out with “regulatory-compliant” digital token sales, integration consulting, and various other services. The availability of each offering “depends on the regulatory body (SEC, FINMA) exemption chosen by its tokenization clients,” the company clarified.

In August 2020, Ubitquity had partnered with Washington-based Rainier Title, which aims to offer the “highest levels” of real property title and escrow services.

Through the partnership, Ubitquity will create a platform for issuing tokenized property titles and parallel records of conveyances for Rainier.

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Written by bizbuildermike · Categorized: Crowdfunding · Tagged: 2020, Adoption, Aviation, Banks, blockchain, Blockchain & Digital Assets, business, Canada, ceo, commercial, company, crypto-assets, custody, data, decentralized, decentralized finance, defi, digital, digital assets, digital token, distributed ledger technology, dlt, Education, Enterprise, Enterprise Blockchain, Family, finance, founder, founders, Future, Global, integration, joy case, lavatrust consultancy, Ledger, markets, more, nathan wosnack, other, partnership, Products, Real Estate, regulatory clarity, revenue, SEC, security, smart contract, stablecoins, storage, tech, Technology, token, tokenization, transaction, ubitquity, us, USA, vancouver, Wealth

Feb 20 2021

Decentraland celebrates 1 year anniversary with virtual party

User-owned virtual world Decentraland is celebrating its one-year anniversary true to form with a virtual party open to all. 

“Relive the past 12 months of events, competitions, exhibitions, gatherings and more with messages from the community and the results of the #DCLFilmClub promo video contest screened for all,” read the party’s announcement blog post.

Attendees will receive a Proof Of Attendance Protocol NFT, and will get the first look at The White Rabbit, an in-game club. Community members are also pitching in on the effort, with one land rental service offering legendary item giveaway to celebrate.

DJ and crypto aficionado RAC posted on Twitter that he’d be performing a “live” DJ set:

playing a special set in less than 1hr!
happy bday @decentraland https://t.co/OxORgmIemm pic.twitter.com/Tgwv6WXmJY

— RAC (@RAC) February 20, 2021

While the project has been open to investors and early supporters since 2019, the virtual world welcomed the wider world in February of last year. The project found immediate success, quickly selling $1 million in virtual land. Since then, the world has become home to numerous NFT art galleries, casinos, and other attractions. 

More recently, new features such as a virtual casino, layer-2 scaling via Polygon (nee Matic), and voice chat sent native tokens LAND and MANA soaring in early 2021.

The platform also frequently makes headlines for the high-priced sums its virtual plots of lands can fetch on the open market. Digital land is a particularly hot commodity for NFT investors, and LAND is no exception, often making the news for six-figure sales.

It’s been a similarly strong year for the wider Metaverse. Multiple digital worlds have made strides in functionality, playerbases, and interoperability — enough so that Fortnite game studio founder Tim Sweeney has said the tech is “going places.”

Players who are interested in the festivities can hop in now and follow a trail of confetti to the party, where RAC currently has the stage.

Decentraland celebrates 1 year anniversary with virtual party

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Written by bizbuildermike · Categorized: cryptocurrency · Tagged: 2021, art, chat, Community, crypto, dao, Decentraland, digital, events, founder, game, Headlines, market, matic, Metaverse, more, news, nft, other, RAC, rental, said, scaling, style, tech, tokens, Twitter, video, Virtual Land, world

Feb 19 2021

Silicon Valley Is Losing Dominance

For the past few decades, Silicon Valley has dominated the world of venture capital. According to Pitchbook, Silicon Valley accounted for a whopping 26% of all VC dealmaking in 2014. Even more impressive, more than 39% of all dollars invested into VC-backed startups happened in the Silicon Valley area.

However, Silicon Valley’s dominance has been declining for a while. According to Pitchbook data, via CNBC, Silicon Valley’s share of venture capital has been declining since 2014.

But since the pandemic began last year, that trend has accelerated dramatically. Pitchbook now predicts that Silicon Valley’s share of VC deals will soon drop below 20% for the first time in history. 

Prominent venture capitalist Jason Lemkin recently summed the situation up in a tweet.

Jason Lemkin Tweet

Lemkin knows what he’s talking about. He’s deeply entrenched in California’s tech scene as one of the world’s top Software-as-a-Service investors.

The Tech Diaspora

The world of tech investing is changing. Soon, Silicon Valley will no longer be such a dominant force in the world of startup investing. Back in August of last year, I wrote a piece titled “Tech Companies Flee California (Finally).” Here’s a relevant excerpt.

For California and the SFBA, this trend should be quite disturbing in the short-term. But for the rest of us, things are looking up. Companies are spreading out across the country, and the benefits — especially to business-friendly states like Texas — will be significant. 

Ultimately, this will be good for California too. They’ll be forced to make the state more attractive to businesses. Maybe even lower taxes and slim down their bloated budgets (California is looking at a $54 billion budget deficit this year). 

I believe the groups that will benefit most of all are entrepreneurs and startup investors. As big technology companies spread out across the U.S., more innovative startups will also sprout up all over the country. Wealth, skills and experience will become more evenly distributed.

Venture capitalists will be forced to invest much more outside the SFBA. Angel investor communities will sprout up everywhere in response. And equity crowdfunding will play an increasingly important role in funding early-stage companies. 

This is going to be an incredibly powerful trend. The primary effect will be a more even distribution of wealth across the country (and the world).

And the timing couldn’t be better for startup investors. On March 15th, new regulations will go into effect that increase the limit on most equity crowdfunding deals from $1.07 million to $5 million. This will attract far more mature and established startups, which anyone will be able to invest in.

My advice: start saving up cash if you have the means. There will be some truly impressive opportunities for retail startup investors in the very near future. Keep a close eye on startup funding portals, because I suspect some of these new $5M deals will sell out very quickly. Equity crowdfunding is on the verge of a revolutionary change. 

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Written by wpengine · Categorized: business · Tagged: $5 million, bitcoin, Businesses, California, Cash, Crowdfunding, crypto, data, deals, Early Investing, Entrepreneurs, funding, Future, Go, going, html, Investing, investor, more, pandemic, politico, retail, Silicon Valley, startup, startup investing, startups, Taxes, tech, tech exodus, Technology, Texas, u.s., us, VCs, Venture Capital, verge, Wealth, world

Feb 13 2021

Amazon Job Listings Reveal that Tech Giant Is Launching a Digital Currency Project in Mexico

The World Wide Public Sector (at Amazon) team is reportedly looking to recruit an experienced Principal Technical Program Manager (TPM) – Digital Currency to serve as the technology “enabler” for “innovating” their customer solutions in support of their goal of promoting economic development and inclusion, risk oversight and consumer protection and financial and “monetary stability.”

As posted on Amazon Jobs, in this particular role, the candidate will be responsible for shaping the technical direction and that “allows our team and customers to innovate quickly, will evangelize new features and direction to our customers, working to accelerate feature adoption and track the realized impacts.”

As the TPM, the professional will be responsible for interacting with the leadership team at all levels (Directors, Governors, GMs, CISOs, CIOs and CTOs) of Central Banks, financial regulators, inter-governmental organizations (IGOs) and international financial institutions (IFIs).

In this role, the professional will be expected to work with Marketing, Business Development, and Sales teams to “create and drive awareness and opportunities.” Additionally, they will “collaborate with technical contacts for team projects, special programs, offering and initiatives that have broad cross-organizational and cross-business impact.”

(Note: for additional job requirements, check here.)

As mentioned in the job post for Principal Technical Program Manager – Digital Currency, here at Amazon Web Services, we “embrace our differences.” At AWS, they are “committed to furthering” their “culture of inclusion.”

As noted in the job posting:

“We have ten employee-led affinity groups, reaching 40,000 employees in over 190 chapters globally. We have innovative benefit offerings, and we host annual and ongoing learning experiences, including our Conversations on Race and Ethnicity (CORE) and AmazeCon (gender diversity) conferences. Amazon’s culture of inclusion is reinforced within our 14 Leadership Principles, which remind team members to seek diverse perspectives, learn and be curious, and earn trust.”

Amazon is reportedly planning to introduce its own digital currency project in various emerging markets.

These new job listings have revealed that the tech giant may be working on a product that will allow clients to “convert their cash into digital currency.”

The new job listings for Amazon’s “Digital and Emerging Payments” unit noted the tech company is working on a product that will allow clients to settle digital transactions.

Amazon confirmed that they are building a tech team to “build innovative payment products for customers in emerging markets.”

The listings noted that the initiative will start off in Mexico, however, it may expand to clients in other central and South American nations.

Notably, this is not Amazon’s only digital currency-related project. The tech firm also has an Amazon Coins initiative that provides discounts on purchases on Kindles and Fire tablets.

Amazon’s digital currency plans have been revealed at a time when other giants are quickly moving to adopt cryptocurrency. Last month, Tesla acquired $1.5 billion in Bitcoin, the flagship cryptocurrency, and confirmed that it will be accepting BTC as a form of payment.

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Written by bizbuildermike · Categorized: Crowdfunding · Tagged: Adoption, amazon, american, AWS, Banks, bitcoin, Blockchain & Digital Assets, btc, business, Cash, company, consumer protection, conversations, cryptocurrency, Culture, Currency, digital, digital currency, digital transactions, discounts, diversity, Economic Development, Emerging Markets, fintech, Gender, Global, international, job listings, Jobs, latam, marketing, markets, mexico, note, Offerings, other, payment, product, Products, risk, Teams, tech, tech giant, tech giants, Technology, tesla, Transactions, virtual currencies, work, world

Feb 09 2021

2021: Looking Ahead

A lot of ink has been spilled about 2020 — about its rolling disasters and general upheaval. But here, in this post, we don’t want to dwell on the negative. We want to talk about the positives that happened in 2020, and share our excitement for the year ahead. A lot of awesome stuff happened last year in the world of crowdfunding. Backers funded innovative campaigns, Indiegogo launched sweeping initiatives, and the crowdfunding community learned some key lessons that we can expand on in 2021. 

In this post, we round up last year’s top campaigns, discuss the takeaways we’re building on as we look ahead to 2021, and recap the initiatives that Indiegogo set in motion last year.

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Top 10 Campaigns of 2020

10. Amazfit Curved Smartwatch

$2.2M raised
12,041 backers
Beijing, China

This smartwatch has a curved screen and tracks vitals 24/7, using tech to improve health.

9. STRØM CITY W

$2.3M raised
3,291 backers
Copenhagen, Denmark

A stylish eBike made especially for women, created in the biking capital of the world.

8. Monster X

$2.3M raised
3,779 backers
Kowloon, Hong Kong

This generator is powerful enough to let you set up a TV or PS4 in your backyard.

7. ElecHive

$2.8M raised
2,453 backers
San Diego, United States

The ElecHive’s battery can provide a massive 2,200W of power output, just like a standard wall socket.

6. Stoggles

$3M raised
60,753 backers
Los Angeles, United States

Stoggles offer similar eye protection to full goggles but with style, shielding eyes from dirty fingers and airborne droplets.

5. GPD WIN Max

$3.M raised
4,356 backers
Shenzhen, China

GPD WIN Max combines the portability of a handheld gaming console with the graphics of a gaming laptop.

4. Reevo

$3.6M raised
1,777 backeers
Delaware, United States

This hubless design puts an emphasis on style, making it the perfect eBike for a discerning rider. 

3. Bluetti AC200 Solar Power Station

$7.5M raised
7,030 backers
Denver, CO

This power station uses solar energy to put out a colossal 2,000 watts of continuous power.

2. Superstrata Bike

$10.3M raised
3,853 backers
San Francisco, United States

Each Superstrata bike frame is 3D-printed with carbon fiber to give the user a custom fit. 

1. Babymaker

$14.8M raised
8,731 backers
San Diego, CA, United States

This eBike was the runaway (or bike-away?) hit of 2020, thanks to its sleek, lightweight design.

Five takeaways from 2021

Backers and campaigners are hungry for community and connection

Community is what differentiates crowdfunding: It’s the backbone of everything that happens at Indiegogo. So it was no surprise to find that, in a year when people were feeling isolated, backers chose to not just fund campaigns — they also chose to engage with the communities that are built amongst a campaign’s supporters. Nearly 50,000 backers came to our Facebook Virtual Hangouts, attending events like an unboxing and Q+A with Chase Reeves from Pakt, and roundtables for female entrepreneurs and Indiegogo community favorites. And 2.1 million people tuned into Instagram takeovers, where we gave fan favorite campaigners the keys to our Instagram for a few days to communicate directly with our social audience, sharing exclusive stories and content. Backers also shared tips and tricks on campaign pages: Productivity products alone garnered 50,000 comments as backers discussed their favorite life hacks and offered each other encouragement as they advanced towards their goals, and backers attended live Q+As with creators of productivity-enhancing products like this one with the creators of Midea and this one with Arrow and TimeChi. 

Backers are more interested in green campaigns

Crowdfunding has always been an ideal place for entrepreneurs to raise funds for products that can help save the planet. And as more and more people look to make the transition to greener lifestyles, support for green campaigns grew nearly 900% in 2020, as compared to the previous year. Backers are seeking out everything from plastic-free cleaning products to solar panels to portable bidets to help put the planet first. Solar-powered batteries were particularly popular, with power stations like Monster X and Bluetti bringing in millions of donations from backers looking to get off the grid and lower their carbon footprint. In fact, green energy campaigns raised a total of $16.7M in 2020. eBikes also got a lot of love in 2020, as backers looked to ditch their cars and find greener ways to get around. Electric bicycles like Reevo, Superstrata, Babymaker and MATE  raised a whopping $24M combined. And, of course, it wouldn’t be crowdfunding if backers weren’t also connecting with the creators of their favorite campaigns. Indiegogo community members attended events like an Instagram Live with QuenchSea, an Instagram Takeover with One Bottle founder Petrice Jones, and a Virtual Hangout on Facebook with ETEE. 

Crowdfunding helps underrepresented entrepreneurs achieve their dreams

2020 was a year of reckoning for many industries, as they struggled to overcome their racially homogenous makeup and move forward towards a brighter and more equitable future. Crowdfunding has long been a path for diverse voices to circumvent venture capital firms and other traditional investment avenues, which still give the majority of their money to white men. In 2020, Black female campaigners launched children’s books like The Mermaid Princesses, the Parisian concept store Little Africa, the eco-conscious perfume company Scents and Style, the digital archive of womxn in hip hop The Keeper, and so much more. 

Backers come to crowdfunding for global connection

One of our favorite things about crowdfunding is that it lets backers meet and support entrepreneurs from all over the globe. Last year, Indiegogo expanded its reach to Japan, offering resources to Japanese entrepreneurs and allowing Japanese backers to donate to campaigns using Japanese yen. Our new Made in Japan category is off to a great start, with $6M raised amongst 13,000 backers. And with our new partnership with Makuake, the leading pre-order and support platform in Japan, backers can expect to see even more exciting things to come. In 2020, Indiegogo continued expansion into China, helping Chinese brands reach international audiences through crowdfunding.

Games are having a moment

Indie game creators flock to Indiegogo to turn their intricate and creative concepts into games that people can enjoy with their friends in real life, dice and cards and all. And with the pandemic trapping everyone indoors, people found themselves playing tabletop games like never before. With their interest in gaming piqued, 35,000 backers supported up and coming game designers in 2020, resulting in more than a 200% increase in funds raised for tabletop games compared to 2019. One notable standout has been Queeng, a deck of playing cards designed by a 12-year-old girl that raised over $500k. But it wasn’t just tabletop games that had a good year on Indiegogo: Digital games also had a great showing in 2020. The GPD WIN Max console made the 2020 top ten, raising $3.4M and creative approaches to gaming like Polycade gained a following.

Five Initiatives We Launched in 2020

Commitment to uplifting marginalized and underrepresented groups

We’ve been asking ourselves hard questions about how we can do more to foster a diverse and inclusive landscape. In 2020, we launched the Indiegogo Fellowship Program, a six-week course that guides campaigners in running a successful crowdfunding campaign from beginning to end. The Fellowship Program aims to provide guidance and resources to creators from communities that are typically marginalized in tech and innovation, and focuses on helping female-identifying, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs. We also established Juneteenth as a company-wide holiday last year. Indiegogo has been publishing an annual diversity report since 2014 and while we still have tons of work to do, our 2020 report reveals that our internal initiatives have been progressing diversity and inclusion at Indiegogo over the last half a decade.

Local business relief program

2020 was a turbulent year for small businesses, with lockdowns pummeling the local establishments that make up our communities. Last year we launched the Local Business Relief Program, which waived Indiegogo’s platform fees for local businesses, like restaurants and theaters, that operate in the service industry. These businesses launched Indiegogo campaigns to raise money to stay afloat and pay staff until quarantines were lifted. Through this program, local businesses like Fitdog Doggy Daycare in Santa Monica, Baker’s in Seattle, WA, Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael, CA, and the oldest operating bar west of the Mississippi, Shooting Star Saloon in Huntsville, Utah, were able to raise extra funds to get through the pandemic.

Global launches

Brands often face headwinds when expanding into the global market, whether it’s a language barrier, shifting consumer needs, or cultural differences. Last year, Indiegogo expanded the Global Fast Track program to Japan. The program helps the world’s top innovative products launch in international markets. We partnered with the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), and with Makuake, the leading pre-order and support platform in Japan, to give entrepreneurs additional support for launching successful crowdfunding campaigns. Lu Li, the general manager of global strategy at Indiegogo, has been spearheading international efforts, helping entrepreneurs raise more than $260 million in funds. Her dedication and expertise in global crowdfunding has landed her on the 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 List. Our global expansion wasn’t just limited to Japan: We built out additional tools for our Global Fast Track Program in China like an official WeChat account and informative webinars like our presentations with Facebook and Shopify. 

Support for causes that matter

On Giving Tuesday, Indiegogo launched Tips for Indiegogo, a feature that gives backers the option to add a tip for Indiegogo to their contribution during checkout. Indiegogo matches the money given through Tips and donates to causes that are important to the Indiegogo community. Tips for Indiegogo are optional, but if you find yourself in a giving mood, just look for the “add a tip” call-out on Indiegogo contribution pages! “Community has the power to accomplish some pretty incredible things. We see it every day in the campaigns you support, the causes you rally behind, and the projects you bring to life,” says Andy Yang, Indiegogo CEO. “Now we’ll be able to amplify the goodwill together, and make the world a better place while doing it.”

Partnerships

Entrepreneurs are most successful when they have some help along the way. We partner with companies that help entrepreneurs launch great campaigns and deliver perks to their backers. Those partnerships provide everything from one-on-one assistance to educational content to exclusive discounts.  In 2020, in-person events moved online, and Arrow, Easyship, and others shared their expertise on webinars about everything from managing supply chains to building medical technology with Analog Devices to Virtual Hangouts, connecting partners and the campaigns they’ve supported directly with the backer community. We helped entrepreneurs in our social community connect with specialists and gain access to new information and expert advice through articles and Q+As. We also welcomed Clearbanc to the Indiegogo family, and their marketing advances helped Reevo and Stoggles make the top ten list last year. Easyship worked with campaigns like the Philips PicoPix Max and the Stereogum Covers Compilation to ship products around the world. And as usual, the Arrow Certification Program helped tech entrepreneurs build viable, working products. The top five Arrow campaigns in 2020 were:

1. Reevo – $3.6M raised
2. NeoRythm – $1.6M raised
3. Tempest – $1.1M raised
4. SPLACH – $783K raised
5. GoSun – $514K raised

Explore our Experts Directory to learn more about our partners. 

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Written by bizbuildermike · Categorized: Crowdfunding · Tagged: 2020, 2021, batteries, books, brands, business, Businesses, carbon, cars, ceo, Community, company, Crowdfunding, Design, digital, discounts, diversity, donations, eBike, energy, Entrepreneurs, events, expansion, Facebook, Family, Fees, fiber, founder, fund, Future, game, Games, gaming, Global, green, hacks, health, html, IGG, In The News, information, innovation, instagram, international, investment, japan, market, marketing, markets, Mississippi, money, more, other, pandemic, partnership, Products, Real Life, report, Santa Monica, Seattle, small businesses, smartwatch, social, solar energy, Strategy, style, supported, tech, Technology, trade, TV, Venture Capital, work, world, youtube

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