Security Tokens
IPwe Looks to Close Series A on a High Note
Whats Happening?
With only a short time remaining, IPwe looks to soon close a successful round of funding. This raise is occurring in an effort to finance the continued development of IPwe.
The digital securities to be issued are being offered under Regulation D, and represent IPwe’s Series A round of funding.
Investments are being led by a strong group, including Rotter Family Trust, Raptor Group, and more.
IPwe
For those unfamiliar with IPwe, they are a forward thinking company looking to disrupt the global patent industry. They intend to bring transparency, efficiency, and uniformity to an industry that is woefully thin on these attributes. In doing so, the team behind IPwe believes that they will be able to realize impressive profits for both themselves and patent holders.
The team at IPwe intends on creating this disruption through the use of multiple technologies. These include both artificial intelligence, and blockchain. Their own services were built over a 10 year period utilizing this technology. In that time the team has secured 22 patents of their own.
IPwe breaks down their platform into three main categories. These include:
The Global Patent Registry
- Blockchain-enabled registry
Zuse Analytics
- AI software developed to analyze attributes of patents such as strength, viability, value, and others.
IPwe Transaction Platform
- A medium that facilitates transactions and interactions between patent owners, service providers, and more.
These services are a boon to an industry that finds itself disjointed, with no real uniformity between patent offices worldwide.
By the Numbers
Here is a brief look at how the numbers stack up for this round of funding.
Funding Round
- Series A
Minimum Investment
- $5000
Target Minimum / Amount raised thus far
- $4,000,000 / $4,307,598
By successfully reaching their goal, IPwe will now be able to continue rapid development in a massive industry. Here is a look at a few figures conveying the scope of the patent market they are looking to change.
Licensing & Acquisition
- $180 billion / year
U.S.-brokered market
- $350 million
Patents for sale in U.S.
- $16 billion
Now and Then
While IPwe has impressed the industry thus far, their services are far from finished. For now, services are limited to the following.
- Licensing & Acquisitions
- Financing
- Maintenance Fees
- Analytics
The team indicates that, in the near future, support will be implemented for additional services. These include the following.
- Royalty Management
- Insurance
- Retention of Service Providers
- Valuation
In Other News
IPwe has been on a tear in recent months. In this time the project has gone from an intriguing idea, to a promising company, with the potential to make waves.
Whether taking part in the IBM accelerator program, creating ‘patent finance markets’, or giving exclusive interviews, here is what IPwe has been up to as of late.
IBM Blockchain Accelerator to help Digital Securities through acceptance of Securitize and IPWe
Templum Markets and IPWe to develop ‘Patent Finance Market’
Interview Series – Erich Spangenberg, CEO of IPWe
This week, Blue Ocean Management Partners, LLC announced an investment in New York-based Blue Ocean Technologies, LLC. The firm intends to utilize its experience to provide much-needed senior management to Blue Ocean Technologies. The news showcases growing interests in the Blue Ocean platform.
Blue Ocean Technologies
Blue Ocean Tech seeks to expand the development of the after-hours markets for U.S.-listed securities, including ETFs and related securities. The new platform will provide U.S.-based traders the ability to track off-hours market movement and react accordingly. Importantly, investors will now be able to better manage risks.
Additionally, the platform provides opportunities for foreign investors to have after-hours access to the U.S. capital markets. Providing 24-hour access to the securities markets is important for a myriad of reasons. For one, it provides users with more investment opportunities. This data and technical services are critical for the functionality of numerous regulated trading venues.
Blue Ocean Technologies via Homepage
Strategic Partnerships
Speaking on the developments, Blue Ocean Management CEO and President Ralph Layman described how the strategic partnership brings much-needed senior management resources to the platform. In turn, this experienced leadership can help guide the platform through its next growth stages.
For its part, Blue Ocean Management will provide management and expertise. The firm has experience building FinTech firms from startup. As such the company seeks to expand the support for 24-hour market access for both securities and EFTs. Together, securities and EFTs are the second largest class of investments across Asia and Europe.
Major Backing Continues
Blue Ocean management isn’t alone in its quest to further develop the off-trading hour capabilities of firms. Already, the FinTech firm managed to secure support from some of the largest players in the game. One such investor is tZERO.
tZERO
Earlier in the year, Overstock.com’s blockchain subsidiary tZERO became another major backer in the Blue Ocean platform. tZERO is a market pioneer in the space and their backing showcases the true potential that Blue Ocean’s 24-hour strategy possesses. tZERO has filed numerous blockchain patents over the last two years. The firm is at the forefront of blockchain adoption.
Discussing the investment strategy, tZERO’s CEO, Saum Noursalehi praised the new partnership. He explained how the maneuver allows tZERO to “focus on its important strategic initiatives with digital securities.” tZERO seeks to tokenize the traditional financial markets over the next 5-10 years.
Blue Ocean Moves Forward
As the more industries migrate to a blockchain-based system, it’s important that developers create the ecosystem to support the robust capabilities of these new platforms. Both analysts and traders agree that 24-hour access to markets is one of the best ways to spur growth. This line of thought becomes more evident when you consider that this new strategy opens up the US market to international investors in a way previously unimaginable.
The Blue Ocean platform brings greater efficiency and transparency to capital markets. In this way, analysts predict the platform to be disruptive to the current systems. You can expect to hear more from this unique platform as development continues over the coming months.
Strategic Investment
Recently, BnkToTheFuture has shed light on their future aspirations through a new investment. This move saw the Cayman Islands based company acquire a stake in United States based broker/dealer, BMI Capital.
By acquiring a stake in the company, BnkToTheFuture now gains the ability to make use of existing licensure held by BMI Capital – including their status as a registered broker/dealer.
U.S. Expansion
With the future of blockchain holding a global appeal, many industry participants have announced their intent for expansion beyond their own borders.
The following articles demonstrate a few of these decisions, as companies beyond BnkToTheFuture look to enter foreign countries.
Smartlands Sets for Expansion into U.S. with New Agreement
DigiMax Eyes European Expansion through Black Manta Partnership
Broker/Dealer
The importance of becoming a broker/dealer, by proxy or otherwise, cannot be understated. The designation allows for a company, such as BnkToTheFuture, to expand their services to include the buying and selling of securities.
For more information on the role assumed by broker/dealers, make sure to check out our terminology page.
Commentary
BnkToTheFuture CEO, Simon Dixon, recently spoke with CoinDesk regarding the future of security tokens. He stated,
“We forecast by 2020 up to 50 percent will opt for an innovative security token that improves the potential for returns for investors over traditional equity. We are aiming to build a new industry and asset class.”
Building a Foundation
Over the past few months, any have noted that the digital securities sector is slow to take off. With other capital generation events, such as ICOs, having experienced rapid growth in the past, many expected the same from digital securities.
A growing amount of companies have entered the sector from various points around the world. Each of these companies are hard at work developing the necessary infrastructure to support future growth.
It is important to recognize, however, that STOs are completed in a regulatory compliant manner, which requires participants to hold a variety of designations, such as that of a broker/dealer. Attaining these capabilities takes time.
The companies involved are not trying to run before they walk. A more strategic approach is being taken to ensure that the industry is ripe for growth when true adoption occurs.
BnkToTheFuture
Founded in 2011, BnkToTheFuture is a Cayman Islands based investment platform. The company specializes in utilizing new technologies, such as blockchain, to facilitate the offering of high potential opportunities for investors and companies alike.
BMI Capital
This United States based investment firm which was founded in 2012. With licensure attained through FINRA, BMI Capital is able to operate as a broker/dealer.
CEO, Robert H. Trapp, currently oversees company operations.
In Other News
Over the course of the last year, we have covered events pertaining to BnkToTheFuture on various occasions. The following articles share insights into a few of these events.
BnkToTheFuture Invests in Blockchain Consultancy Firm, Diacle
BnkToTheFuture to Utilize Altcoin.io for Security Token Exchange
Curated STO
Via East West Capital has recently opened up regarding an STO which they curated recently. This STO was a capital generation event which saw the distribution of tokenized securities associated with a cultural theme park in Thailand, known as Legend Siam.
Legend Siam Tokens
In this event, investors gained access to what the issuer calls ‘Legend Siam Tokens (LST)’. These tokens were treated as securities, and were offered through Reg. D guidelines under the SEC.
While details on the tokens, themselves, are scarce at this time, it appears as though they took shape as some type of real-estate backed token, based on the cultural theme park.
Expanding Exposure
As the digital securities sector continues to develop, participants are being drawn in from new, interesting markets. In the past year we have reported on STO opportunities surrounding, but not limited to, the following industries.
- Art
- Auto
- Residential Real estate
- Equity
With the announcement surrounding Legend Siam, we can now add ‘Theme Park’ and Commercial Real Estate to that list.
Commentary
Via East West CEO, Oh Shen King, took the time to elaborate on STOs, stating,
“We predict a rise in the potential and demand for tokenized securities because digital ownership on the blockchain provides so many advantages over legacy investments, and tech-savvy investors are seeing the value proposition in real-time…This addition to our business is just a natural extension of our vision for a crowd-financed world, and we provide 100% transparency to all our investors.”
Via East West Capital
Operating out of Southeast Asia, Via East West Capital is an investment firm focused on ‘tokenized asset investments’.
CEO, Oh Shen King, currently oversees company operations.
Legend Siam
Legend Siam is a well-known attraction in Thailand. It operates as a popular theme park, built with the intention of promoting Thai history and culture.
In their release, it is indicated that the park now spans over 65 acres, with hundreds of shops, and various attractions. In total, the park now has an estimated worth of over $131 million.
In Other News
Thailand has made it obvious that they are vying to become a leader in the blockchain industry, including digital securities. This much was made evident in a recent decision by their government to potentially legalize security tokens. In addition to this, there have been various blockchain based companies welcomed into the MAS FinTech Sandbox.
Thai Government Moves to Legalize Security Tokens
MAS Fintech Sandbox Welcomes Capital Markets Platform ‘iSTOX’