UAE-based Afterschool.ae to launch $1m ICO, eyes SE Asia expansion
Tomas S. Noda III
September 14, 2017
Seeking to extend operations in Southeast Asia, Dubai-based Afterschool.ae, an after-school activity marketplace platform, is aiming to raise $1 million up to 50,000 Ethereum (ETH) via an initial coin offering (ICO) on September 26.
Afterschool is an online platform that helps parents find after-school activities, nurseries and schools for their children across the UAE.
The funds raised for the ICO will be used for Afterschool’s product internationalisation by decentralising its marketplace, expanding to neighbouring countries in the Middle East such as Qatar and Bahrain, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), as well as in emerging markets like Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and other key regions.
Afterschool noted its token sale would make it the first after-school programme platform to create its own digital currency.
With the launch of its own virtual token, Afterschool’s blockchain-based platform is looking to disrupt the after-school activity booking industry by implementing an online system that enables parents to book kids’ activities with ETH, Bitcoin (BTC), or Afterschool tokens and its activity providers to accept the same.
Aside from using it as a form of payment, Afterschool also aims is to reward both parents and activity providers using AST tokens.
“We believe that Afterschool using blockchain technology is an opportunity to keep our database up-to-date and relevant, and allows us to be on top of rapidly moving trends in the edtech industry,” Afterschool founder and CEO Joanna Santillan said.
Afterschool has set the total cap for AST tokens at 800 million, which is available for purchase during the upcoming public crowdsale. All funds raised during the ICO will be held in a multi-sig wallet controlled by the team council.
The base price of Afterschool token on the day of crowdsale is set at $0.05. The ICO will begin with a starting bonus of 60 per cent and the price of ETH will be locked to the value of USD on the day of the launch.
“To participate in the ICO, individuals can create a wallet on MyEtherWallet.com, Parity or Mist. Participants can purchase Ethereum (ETH) from various exchanges such as Coinbase or Bitsquare, or buy with other cryptocurrencies from platforms such as Bittrex and Poloniex,” the company added.
All tokens allocated to the founders and team (15 per cent), and investors (10 per cent) will be reverse-vested for 24 months with monthly cliffs. The platform has set aside a portion of tokens (8 per cent) for future partnerships as well.
Read more at: https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/uae-afterschool-launch-1m-ico-se-asia-expansion-82422/
