Crowdfunding 3.0 & 300 Time Bombs a’Ticking
As we enter this new season, looking back over the last seven years it’s not difficult to see how Crowdfunding has transformed both innovation and entrepreneurship, providing an open door, open access to the open market, for startups and ventures of any size.
Meanwhile Fintech has begun to prise open payments and, to a limited extent, the financial system, by starting to bring some of the gains of technology to customers rather than ignoring them or pocketing them as cost-savings for incumbents.
Over the last seven months ICOs and other Token Offerings have raised more money than Crowdfunding over those seven years. But in terms of innovation, and its impact, Crowdfunding 3.0 goes far deeper as the Token Crowdfund takes its place beside equity, donations, ‘rewards’ and Crowdlending – dwarfing them all.
By our count at TokenIntelligence.io there are now well over 2,500 tokens and coins. Even allowing for a high attrition rate, to be expected among startups and especially those attempting high innovation, that means there are now more than 300 well funded, independent ventures seeking to disrupt and decentralise. While the trend is now to work with the VCs, who’d previously have been calling the shots but have been scrambling aboard a train they can see is out of their control, they no longer monopolise and dominate the agenda. So it is that, even were all this to change tomorrow, there are around 300 disruptors, primed and funded, seeking to disintermediate.
My most recent interview with one was with Zwoop, which calls itself a ‘Find Engine’ seeking to end the ripoff of biased ecommerce, and claims to be able to get you there – including past the hype and highest bidder to the best deals – in a fraction of the time… from minutes searching for the best deal to seconds. Meanwhile sharing the fruits of your data (allowing you to opt out if you prefer) with you. In this case not a mere idea but a venture already funded and with a track record, MVP and, indeed, beta platform.
Zwoop are typical of the disruptors, innovators and pioneers I have interviewed over the last 33 episodes and seven months on ICOrad.io. Other notables include DESICO, Kinesis, CosmeCoin, and inventor if the ICO J.R.Willett.
Initial excitement may be abating somewhat as we head out of summer but around 300 innovation time-bombs are ticking – at an ever increasing pace.
More on this via ICOrad.io. Please Tweet/Telegram your questions to @BarryEJames or listen at ICOrad.io.