As the overall coin market took a nose dive in the beginning of 2019, we communicated on 5 Feb 2019 that EndChain’s ICO would be pushed back (https://medium.com/@endchain/endchain-news-ico-date-changes-5cf90cea0f71).
Despite the lack of funding for our ambitious EndChain project, we wanted to use the waiting time to validate our business case. Given all Co-Founders were on the ground in China and have strong China connections, we decided to push forward with a special China Project.
To that end we started another unrelated blockchain company in China named “ProtectorChain”. This is a project focusing on traceability we started within China as tokens and ICO are prohibited in China. By starting out in one country that we all have strong ties and connections to, while focusing on certain industries, we were able to provide a proof of concept! This proof of concept shows both that there is strong market interest in our product and that our team has the capability to execute fast, effectively and efficiently.
Within 3 months of ProtectorChain running, we have accomplished leaps and bounds. We have secured partnerships with retailers, including with one of the largest retailers within China to help onboard more manufacturers to the blockchain. On the manufacturers side, we have talked to both food and cosmetics manufacturers and we are looking to close our first deal shortly. All of this has progressed so far that we have assembled a dedicated tech team, which is already working on the implementation of these deals.
We have also attracted public attention as we were a finalist for the Global Industrial Internet Conference in Wuzhen, China. This competition had half of its competition from Mainland China and the other half from other countries. As finalists, we had the opportunity to present in front of a group of panelists and connect with local businesses and governments.
Additionally, Pierre and Aaron presented together in Suzhou to compete on an investment TV show, similar to Shark Tank. Below is a picture of them presenting together during this competition:
Just to be clear, we wanted to show a proof of concept that our team was capable of pushing this project forward and ensure those who want to participate in EndChain that our team is continuously working hard to make our dream a reality. Starting in China allowed us to start a proof of concept, called ProtectorChain, that has taken off faster than we even expected.
By starting on a smaller scale, the team has the technical and business experience to make global supply chain tracking with the blockchain to the ambitious extends of EndChain a reality with our patent-pending QR/barcode fusion.