Meet & Greet Arjeh van Oijen

CEO and Co-Founder of Unchain.io and Winner of GLES #2

Blockchain technology is on everybody’s lips and had shown itself as a great facilitator of business exchanges and collaborations. The winner of our gone Entrepreneurial Session, Unchain.io is one these innovative blockchain companies that facilitate business exchanges for all type of industry. We caught up for a coffee with Arjeh van Oijen, Co-founder and CEO of Unchain.io.

Who is Arjeh van Oijen?

At the moment I am the co-Founder and CEO of Unchain.io. I come from a financial background and worked in financial services for several years. I was specialised in Corporate Banking and Transactions Banking. I worked for banks, software providers and also consultancy firms such as CMG. Fun fact, the CMG’s office was located in the same building as GROW Labs, and I worked ten years in the home of the GROW Labs Entrepreneurial Sessions.

How did you get involved in blockchain?

My professional background has a lot to do with security integration into the financial supply chains. I was working in corporations and banks. Therefore, one of my responsibilities was to ensure that these vast amounts of money — between banks and organisations — were transferred smoothly and safely. No matter what we did, the security was a high priority. Looking at the blockchain technology, I could immediately recognise some of the components I used in the past: blockchain is a powerful technology that applies to integrate external parties directly into the supply chain. When people do business together, they exchange data, and those exchanges take place in different locations and industries. The idea is simple: the blockchain technology intends to automate these exchanges without human intervention, and of course to make them safe and secure. It allows identification and verification, and that’s what creates the value of blockchain in the human society.

What exactly is and does Unchain.io?

We provide practical solutions to help companies storing their data on the blockchain network. We integrate tools that enable our clients and partners to incorporate any piece of data within the blockchain network, seamlessly. Our role is to remove the complexity of these processes and to ease data exchange. We deliver secure services that facilitate teamwork, and most importantly, we deliver services that are scalable. Simply said, our technology enables organisations to simplify the onboarding process of external participants on the blockchain network.

Who is currently on board at Unchain.io?

We’re a team of eleven people. Technology plays a significant part in our growth. As a matter of fact, we have seven in-house developers, a part-time CFO and three people, including me, who focus on the commercial aspects.
One of us is dedicated to strategic partnerships as they are essential for our viability. We target the blockchain network to create impactful partnerships. For example, FMCG suppliers embrace the common interest of making their industry more effective. Companies like Nestle, Unilever or Kraft Food need the blockchain network to be able to track the provenance of the food as consumers’ expectations are more and more critical when it comes to food provenance traceability. Their primary challenge is to ensure that their products are compliant with these expectations and to give consumers the possibility to track the supply-chain. People tend to forget it, but the blockchain technology does not only have a commercial impact, but it also has a substantial social impact.

What are your objectives?

We want to stimulate the adoption of blockchain by easing the access for organisations to this technology. To do so, we must create a compelling product that will generate value and productive partnerships. Partnerships with Cloud and Solutions Integrators will help us to ensure that a significant amount of organisations can start using our products. There are two main reasons for us to team with Solution Integrators; the main one is because they have broad expertise in several industries where blockchain is needed. I think for example of Energy Suppliers, Healthcare Providers and Financial Services. What is more, we also need those partnerships as we do not have this scalability from a resource perspective.

Where does Unchain stand?

Within eighteen months, we managed to develop a ready-to-use product. We continuously work on development as the features possibilities are infinite. Now, our primary focus is to ensure that organisations start using and benefiting from our product. We’re working hard on developing the market adoption on a national and international level. Our target destinations are Dubai, Singapore and New-York City.

How did you hear about GLES?

David approached me on LinkedIn. I immediately liked the idea of connecting with fellow entrepreneurs and creating a new flow of knowledge and insights.

How did you experience the session you attended?

It was very inspiring. The GROW Labs Entrepreneurial Sessions create opportunities for startups to expose themselves, and also to get feedback from experienced professionals. It is beneficial
and provides you new tools to improve your product and vision.

How did you prepare your pitch?

We already have something ready. I always enjoyed attending technology events; they are a great way of sharing views and opinions. It can help you see things from a different angle.

What did you like most about the GLES?

I liked the feedback I received and to know why exactly I won. It is handy and powerful to have a panel of experienced people discussing your business. It gives you access to a brand new vision. I also received different types of pieces of advice and tips. It uncovered brand new perspectives for me.

Tell me something unexpected…

We do not have a marketing person at Unchain.io. However, I am amazed by the attention we receive. We teamed up with a lot of social influencers already, and that’s helping us take the business to the next level. We use social media smartly, and that really helps us to get our word out there.

Are you a young startup, based in Holland, willing to pitch your startup to an audience of experts? Apply for our next Entrepreneurial Session on June 28th 2018, and grab your chance to be rewarded with a €5000 worth prize aiming to help you increase your scalability.

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