Swiss Blockchain Startup Newcomers 2018 — Part 1:

Remo Kyburz
BlockNovum
4 min readAug 24, 2018

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BlockNovum just published its second public Blockchain research report, which provides a comprehensive market overview about Blockchain startups in Switzerland. The report specifically focuses on “Newcomers” in the Blockchain space. This selection includes startups that did conduct an ICO in 2018 (or are planning to ICO later this year), that were newly founded in 2018, or that managed to get first measurable traction (through product release or media attention) in 2018.

The aim of the report is to provide a thorough overview about Swiss newcomers in the blockchain space for investors and industry exponents alike. The map helps navigate the ever-growing crypto landscape in Switzerland by listing all relevant new startups in one place and classifying them in different categories.

Download:

Full report: Swiss Blockchain Startup Newcomers — Map & Assessments [PDF — 3.5 MB]

One Pager: Swiss Blockchain Startup Newcomer Map [PDF — 1.0 MB]

Swiss Blockchain Startups Newcomer Map:

Research Focus:

BlockNovum categorized the screened projects in five categories: Technical, Organizational, Financial, Retail & Entertainment, and Personal.

  • Technical: Projects that provide a technical solution or service related to the blockchain technology. This includes new protocols, blockchain layers, file storage, computation, cyber security, artificial intelligence (AI), technical platforms, and infrastructure solutions related to the blockchain.
  • Financial: Projects and services with a focus on financial applications and use cases. This category includes new cryptocurrencies, exchanges, payment systems, banking services, prediction markets, funds & investment services, investment related data & information platforms, tokenized assets, and others.
  • Organizational: Projects with an organizational focus that mainly tackle challenges related to coordinating, tracking, and organizing people, resources, or data. Hence, this category consists of use cases around governance, supply chain, internet of things (IoT), content distribution, energy etc.
  • Personal: This category includes startups that provide applications for personal use in daily life. Therefore, this section lists offerings around personal authentication, social networks, messaging, personal data & monetization, advertising, or personal healthcare.
  • Retail & Entertainment: The last category includes services with a retail focus or with entertainment purposes. Blockchain startups in this category offer services around marketplaces, gaming, virtual reality, music, sports, art, education, ticketing, and others.

Furthermore, the research focus was explicitly set on projects that were founded and are operational in Switzerland. Companies that have their headquarters in Switzerland and/or conduct an ICO according to Swiss regulations were also included.

Overall BlockNovum identified 78 blockchain-related projects that matched the selection criteria. Note that “older” and more established cryptoassets / startups that did an ICO in 2017, or earlier, were not included in the map. Therefore, you won’t find the likes of Ethereum, Ambrosus, Modum, Lykke, Cardano, Shapeshift etc. in this overview.

Findings & Selection of 15 High Potential Startups:

In the report BlockNovum lists all 78 startups including a categorization and short description for each. Out of all screened startups, BlockNovum selected 15 projects which were assessed to have the highest investment potential. The selection was based on the expected product-market fit, viability of use cases, founding team and experience, stage of development, quality of website/whitepaper/MVP, and the token type & usage.
It has to be noted that several startups in the map came out of stealth mode very recently or are at a very early stage of development. Therefore, these projects could not be properly assessed yet and stay on our watchlist. Consequently this list is not to be seen as final and will be updated for interested clients in the future.

To illustrate BlockNovum’s market research and investment screening offering, an example assessment of long-listed and short-listed startups is given as well in the report. The long-list analysis covers the selected “Technical” and “Financial” startups, whereas the “short-list” assessment example is performed for “Proxeus“. This type of research is primarily geared towards investors who require a high-level market overview and assessment of several startups that match their investment criteria. Subsequently, short-listed projects can then be properly analyzed and evaluated with BlockNovum’s in-depth investment research & due diligence offering.

BlockNovum offers similar on-demand market screenings for various geographies and according to your individual requirements. If you are interested in BlockNovum’s market screening or in-depth investment research services, please contact us at info@blocknovum.com.

To see the selection of our top 15 blockchain startups, have a look at the full report here: BlockNovum_Market Screening_Switzerland-2018

About BlockNovum:

BlockNovum is a Swiss Blockchain and Cryptoasset investment research & consulting firm. We provide professional assessments, fundamental valuations, and research reports for the emerging asset class of cryptoassets & blockchain startups. BlockNovum positions its cryptoasset research reports and services analog to established equity sell-side research providers. Therefore, our target clients include mainly institutional investors with an interest in allocating capital to cryptoassets, or that plan to invest directly in blockchain startups. Additionally, we also offer our reports and consulting services to accredited investors, such as angel investors.

If you are interested in similar reports or customized consulting services, please contact us at info@blocknovum.com .

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Remo Kyburz
BlockNovum

Host of The Leap Takers Podcast | VC @tx_group | Founder of @BlockNovum | World traveler, Tech enthusiast, Food lover, Casual gamer, & Curious individua