Crypto AM Shines its Spotlight on Appold
Appold is an Emerging Technology Advisory and Investment company. The company is set up to act as the primary point of contact in the emerging technology industry. By doing so, Appold can facilitate and bridge the gap between institutions and the emerging technology itself as both advisor and investor.
The company focuses on three primary client types. These are:
- Emerging Technology Firms seeking to expand their business through strategic management and capital solutions
- Investment Groups seeking capital returns within the Emerging Technology sector
- Corporates & Institutions looking to utilise and implement new technologies
An Inefficient Market – There is currently a significant gap and lack of understanding between emerging technology firms looking for suitable investors and suitable investors sourcing opportunities that match their criteria. There are also many corporate and institutional firms looking to adopt new technology solutions or to enter new markets that have little assistance in fully understanding and utilising the opportunities available to them.
Appold’s value proposition is the wealth of knowledge and relationships across this marketplace. We are continually monitoring new developments and growth opportunities for all market participants. The range of emerging technologies are broad and some of our clients are focused on areas such as Digital assets, Blockchain, FinTech, CleanTech and FoodTech.
Appold is a boutique with a sole focus on this market. Unlike many of the larger consulting firms that have a technology division within their practice, we are not focused on “billable hours” and pushing for the highest fees. Our focus is on transparency, efficiency and prompt delivery of solutions in a “no-nonsense” manner. We look to build long term relationships and our business operates seven days a week for all clients.
Since Appold started, we have been very selective about which companies we adopt as clients. For the emerging technology firms, we carefully select those that we think have the best chance of success and create real commercial value for end-users. For example, we introduced one client to a large institution seeking vast amounts of refined data from the Blockchain. The project took weeks to complete based on the tremendous amount of processing required to analyse the complete Blockchain during a set period. The success of this has enabled us to expand the offering and we are engaging many other firms to offer this type of service.
Data aggregation and analytics have been increasingly important areas within the technology sector in recent years. We were recently appointed to assist one of the global leaders in digital asset market data and analytics. Having built a large client base, including institutional firms, we are advising the company on strategic institutional investment partners. The objective is not just about capital raising but also finding a partner whose networks and relationships can be leveraged. This will accelerate the current growth that the company is experiencing in what is an expanding and increasingly institutionalised market.
Another client we have engaged utilises both CleanTech and FoodTech solutions in expanding its fish farming business across Africa. The company has a strong sustainability and societal impact while generating solid returns on the fish farm projects, where the fish stock is distributed into the local markets. As well as utilising cutting edge technology stacks for production and using cloud-based, real-time monitoring dashboards, they have established an online, full aquaculture, value chain training program. All of this has helped increase local employment and bring new skills to their employees. Having secured project finance on several projects they are seeking strategic equity investors, such as ESG focused investment funds, to accelerate their progress with scaling capital.
Appold has also been engaged to assist with capital raising and to introduce potential clients to a company focused on Authorised Signatory Management on the Blockchain. This may not sound very exciting to many. However, those that work in areas such as trust administration, banking and fund management will be acutely aware of the issue of managing authorised signature lists. This client is not focused on the process of signing (which firms such as DocuSign are focused on) but on the “live” management of those authorised signatures. Using distributed ledger technologies, the risk management and audit protocols are more robust than the traditional “wet ink” processes that are not updated as frequently. Our client currently has a sizeable number of tier 1 banks, trust administrators and companies using their technology. This list is growing and the company is evolving at a rapid pace.
Finally, in reference to clients, we have a client who has a product that provides the service of financial inclusion that is close to the founder’s hearts. They are developing a platform and service that democratises cutting edge analytics and algorithms behind the scenes, with a front end that allows customers to select digital asset investments safely. Appold has an agreement to assist with operational and strategic initiatives. The platform and app will launch later this year and a considerable amount of work has already gone into ensuring the launch has a large customer base and the technology is secure and easy to use.
Emerging Technology is booming and the economic impact of Covid19 with increased working from home, video conferencing and businesses pushing for process changes has been a catalyst for even more innovation. The need for technology is evident in the Stock Markets. As at the end of last week (5th June), the technology focused Nasdaq 100 Index was up over 9% since the start of the year; whereas the S&P, FTSE 100, Dow Jones and Eurostoxx 50 were all in negative territory for the same period. However, there is also a lot of time and resources being spent by brilliant people creating incredible products that have little commercial use. That is something we see a lot of and as much as we all like the academic concept of something, it needs to add value to people’s lives or company processes. We continue to spend time filtering out the best opportunities or product fit with excellent management teams.
To date, these are the companies we have selected and are well known in their industries. They have strong management and market presence already. We predict them to be fast growth and Appold can support this:
- CryptoCompare – A Global leader in Digital asset market data and index calculation services with major institutional clients
- Cygnetise – Authorised Signatory Management on the Blockchain with major corporate clients with the potential for significant scalable growth
- SupraFin – A smart WealthTech platform for crypto-assets with a focus on financial inclusion. This is pre-revenue but has great potential
- ByteTree – A leading provider of institutional-grade crypto-asset data. Their investor terminal tracks over 80 metrics for bitcoin in real-time
- Willing Hands – Aims to become the largest fish farming group of companies in Africa within seven years. It uses technology and proven techniques for added value and scalability
Based between the Tech hubs of Shoreditch and the financial district of Canada, Appold is positioned as the bridge from the traditional to the new digital world.
Our door is always open. We are friendly, knowledgeable and very driven, so please feel free to reach out at any time.
Please see https://www.appold.com/ for more information on the company.
Rob Gaskell, Founder and Partner of Appold
Email: [email protected]
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