REITIUM — 2018 in Review
Twenty-eighteen was an incredible first year for REITIUM. Two years later, it’s exciting to reminisce and see how far we have come. We’ve compiled our 2018 year in review for our investors and audience to enjoy!
January 2018
Overview
REITIUM started as an idea in 2017 when Thomas, Michael and Laura were working together on a passion project for a travel app. Entering into a hackathon we looked at how we could incorporate blockchain into our travel app, but it was convoluted. This hackathon’s purpose was to solve a real world problem using blockchain technology. This is how the start of the idea for REITIUM was put out into the ether. Through iteration, brainstorming sessions and late night sketching, Michael, Thomas and Laura came up with the idea for REITIUM — a way to democratize real estate and allow anyone the possibility to invest in property.
Our idea was to fractionalize real estate using blockchain tech and smart contracts, allowing anyone to buy into income-generating properties for as little as $100. This would allow those otherwise excluded, for example millennials, to enter into the property market and start growing their wealth.
Press
We came up with the name REITIUM and created our logo!
Although this isn’t technically press, it’s big news for us!
Tech
At this early stage we were conducting research for what tech stack we would need to create REITIUM. We looked into potential hires and created job descriptions.
Events & Community
Jan 7 — 8: Attended our first conference so we could learn more about this space — Coin Agenda Summit in Las Vegas.
Jan 15 — 16: Attended WCEF (World Crypto Economic Forum) in San Francisco, CA. At this conference we met Andrew Gillette, who would go on to be an integral part in getting us started with IBM Hyperledger and the foundation of our blockchain cryptography.
Jan 26/18: Hosted our first friends and family investment presentation, unveiling REITIUM to those closest to us.
February 2018
Overview
REITIUM got incorporated! Although we’d been working on this project for a few months, up until this point REITIUM was still just an idea and a dream. Incorporating made us a real entity and we hired our first contractors to help us bring the vision to life.
Listening to feedback from both of our investor presentations, we hired Wanda at Concord Business Solutions to create a comprehensive business plan for us to show to potential investors.
Press
N/A
Tech
We created all of our social media pages, bought our domains and made a simple placeholder landing page outlining who we are and the mission behind REITIUM.
Events & Community
Feb 21/18: Hosted our second friends and family investment presentation, unveiling REITIUM to those closest to us. At this event we also invited angel investors to understand our presence in the market and give us useful pitching feedback.
March 2018
Overview
We hired our first official tech lead team member! He had worked with us on our travel app and understood how we operate. We hired him as an offshore contractor at first and were able to bring him over to Canada (from Brazil) in late 2018.
Press
N/A
Tech
We’ve created main wireframes and made decisions on how our technology is going to interact with users. Through incredible amounts of research, trial and error, we’ve entered deep into the R&D stage.
Events & Community
March 10/18: Attended world Blockchain and Token Summit in Dubai. This was eye-opening for us to see what technology was being developed across the world.
March 12 — 14: Attended Asia Money 20/20 in Singapore where we saw firsthand the incredible opportunity and future of where FinTech was headed.
March 19 — 21: Attended Token2049 Conference in Hong Kong.
March 21 — 24: Attended and Pitched at Hong Kong Blockchain Week.
This was our first on-stage Pitch at a Conference.
April 2018
Overview
With our first overseas roadshow just behind us, we worked diligently on our investor deck, presentation and pitch to be ensure we were conveying a cohesive message at each upcoming conference. Although the March roadshow was informative, we recognized that in order to reach a wider audience and be able to answer everyone’s queries, we’d need to secure booths and speaking roles at all upcoming conferences.
Press
Interviewed by Blockchain Global News at Crypto Invest Summit.
Tech
When all of our competition and most blockchain companies we encountered were using Ethereum to build, through the sage advice of cryptographer, Andrew Gillette, we decided to build our own private-permissioned blockchain on IBM Hyperledger.
IBM contacted us and we had our first meeting to outline the inner workings of how we can build on their IBM Hyperledger blockchain. IBM also informed us we would make a great candidate for their partner program and we were invited to look further into what a future partnership program would look like.
Events & Community
April 4/18: Hosted our third friends and family investment presentation, this time the crowd had grown to almost 100 people! Very happily our company funding was growing and were hitting our monthly targets.
April 29 — May 1: Pitched and Boothed for the first time at Crypto Invest Summit in Los Angeles.
May 2018
Overview
We had an exclusive meeting with the government on BC trade commissioners to see how they can support the expansion of REITIUM into global markets. The BC trade commissioners showed keen interest in working with us when we were introduced in Singapore in March.
We met one of our star advisors, Thomas Tiedemann, SVP of Private Equity at Blackstone, for the first time on this trip to NYC. Thomas discovered REITIUM through the blockchain community on Twitter and invited us to a meeting in his NYC Blackstone office to learn more about who we are and what REITIUM is up to. Through many follow up conversations, Thomas came onboard as a REITIUM advisor.
Press
N/A
Tech
Working closely with Andrew Gillette, an experienced blockchain cryptographer who was one of the original developers on the Ethereum blockchain, we created some incredible code and the blueprint for how to move forward and get the most out of building on IBM Hyperledger.
Events & Community
May 14–16: Attended the Consensus Conference in New York. With 8,000 attendees and at the height of the blockchain craze, this was the craziest conference we’d attended to date. It was here that we officially decided it would be our last conference without having a booth or presenting.
June 2018
Overview
Advisory team expansion: We were incredibly fortune to be able to bring on some brilliant minds as advisors, including Blockchain architects, specialty programmers, top lawyers, real estate experts & private equity experts.
We hit an incredible milestone and raised $650K in our family and friends round, which we would later close out at a $700K total.
Press
Interviewed by Token Post in Korea.
Tech
Our website is live and fully functional. The new update includes events and tech updates, a link to our blog, app access, alongside a clear value proposition for new visitors.
Built with our community in mind, our new site is fully responsive with mobile devices, making it easy to navigate on a wide range of platforms. We have focused on improving the mobile experience by putting all the information our community needs into a simple, scrollable format, with options for additional information on our homepage.
The integration of IBM Hyperledger Fabric was introduced creating a private, permissioned blockchain designed for enterprise applications. IBM Hyperledger Fabric achieves end-to-end throughput of more than 3,500 transactions per second with sub-second latency and heightened network privacy.
Events & Community
June 4/18: Pitched and Boothed at Blockchain Impact Summit in Vancouver. An exploration of future trends in blockchain technology and a showcase of companies who are using this technology to disrupt industries and create innovation.
June 5/18: Attended the North Western Blockchain Conference in Seattle.
June 15 — 18: Investor Presentation, Singapore.
June 19 — 22: Investor Presentation, South Korea.
July 2018
Overview
July was full of developments as our team traveled to Korea to meet with investors during our conference roadshow. We officially announced the launch of our new website and won our first award!
Press
Award — Won the Best Innovation in Technology Award at the Satoshi United Conference in Singapore. Click HERE to read the press release.
Interviewed at Satoshi United Conference in Singapore.
Tech
Our app has been developed and we’ve started implementing functionality.
Our app already has the ability to:
- Create investor and appraiser users
- Fully compliant investor tracking
- List a property on our Property Title registry
- Run independent appraisal to set property value
- Create a crowd investment contract to sell property fractionally
- Currently testing our Hyperledger Fabric smart contracts
Events & Community
July 4/18: RED Academy Student Presentation.
In the spring we were approached by a startup school, Red Academy to participate in their community partner program, where they assigned a class of students to work on a specific problem REITIUM was looking to solve. As Red Academy’s focus is “Redefining Education”, they were excited when we came on board, presenting them with a problem from our blockchain-based company.
July 13/18: Hosted an appreciation BBQ for investors and supporters. We had a great time bringing the community together to help them understand more about blockchain and hear about our next steps.
July 14 — 20: Pitched and Boothed at Beyond Blocks as part of Korean Blockchain Week in South Korea.
July 22/18: Introductory Meeting with Softbank, South Korea. The meeting went very well and it was inspiring to see all the great companies they invested in over the years.
July 24 — 27: Pitched, Boothed and Interviewed at Satoshi United in Singapore. The biggest celebration of Blockchain in the world. We ended up winning the competition and taking home the award for Best Innovation in Technology.
July 27 — 31: Pitched and Boothed at Hybrid Summit in Thailand. The goal of the conference was to bring blockchain technology to South East Asia through education and adoption, an area in which REITIUM is focused.
August 2018
Overview
Using the end of the summer slowdown to our advantage, our team was focused on further development of our app and we were able to show our first demo at the Futurist Conference in Toronto.
Press
Interviewed at Futurist Conference in Toronto by Decentro Media.
Interviewed at Futurist Conference in Toronto by Hypercube.
Events & Community
Aug 2/18: We hired our first marketing team member — a student intern from RED Academy. She was hired to implement the solutions that students were assigned to solve as part of their project.
Aug 14 — 16: Pitched, Boothed and Interviewed at the Toronto Futurist Conference, our booth was packed with eager attendees who wanted to learn more. This was our first time pitching and boothing at a Canadian Conference.
Aug 25/18: Celebrating the marriage of our dynamic CPO & Co-Founder Michael Moll with his college sweetheart Harper. The newlyweds had a beautiful ceremony on Vancouver Island, surrounded by friends and family.
Aug 28 — 29: Attended Call to Action (CTA) Conference hosted by Unbounce. The two day conference covered the changing digital marketing landscape. With an excellent line up of speakers, we always come away inspired to act.
September 2018
Overview
We got the green light from the Canadian Government to sponsor employees from abroad, allowing us to strengthen our team by bringing top global talent to the REITIUM team. We submitted the paperwork to bring over our first international talent — programmer, Leo from Brazil.
Press
Interviewed at TokenFest in Boston by New Kids on the Blockchain.
Interviewed at Extraordinary Future in Vancouver by Small Cap Power.
Tech
We have completely integrated IBM Hyperledger Fabric to both REITIUM mobile applications. This allows the REITIUM Android and IOS apps to move from traditional database storage to connect directly to our Blockchain, creating a better user experience and a way to prepare for the onboarding of our customers.
Platform Architecture: Our tech team updated the architecture of our app to facilitate the build of three different options for better user experience:
- A youth investment app: focusing on savings and investment education
- A global retailer investor platform for the general public
- An accredited investment portal for family offices, hoteliers, developers, VCs, sovereign wealth funds etc.
Events & Community
September 9 — 12: Meeting with potential investors in Toronto.
Sept 12 — 15: Boothed, Presented and Interviewed at TokenFest in Boston. This Conference focused on the business and technology of automation.
Sept 19 — 20: Boothed, Presented and Interviewed at the Extraordinary Future Conference in Vancouver. Focusing on driving innovation in Canada by connecting companies with capital and showcasing Canadian technology.
Sept 21— 29: Attended Vancouver Startup Week, a week-long event connecting entrepreneurs, investors, and community leaders, to build momentum and opportunity around the city.
October 2018
Overview
A big roadshow month! Travelling to Toronto, New York, Japan and Dubai for media interviews and investor meetings, ending up at a massive blockchain conference in Malta — the self-proclaimed “Blockchain Island”.
Press
Interviewed by Jane King from the NASDAQ Market Site.
Tech
To take extra precaution with security, our tech team integrated KYC (Know Your Customer) ID Scanning into the REITIUM app. It is imperative to ensure that we have the top systems in place to protect our investors. Our proprietary process will provide our users a secure and seamless experience.
We introduced a Global Admin Dashboard to manage users, properties, and transactions. The dashboard will assist with onboarding, customer service and data analytics.
Events & Community
Oct 11/18: Spoke at the US-CHINA Real Estate forum in New York.
A forum that covered a broad spectrum of topics including US and Chinese macroeconomics. Spoke on “Blockchain and Real Estate” panel alongside REITIUM advisor Thomas Tiedemann. The panel attracted speakers including Real Estate elite Steven C. Rockefeller III, a member of the Roosevelt Family.
Oct 12/18: Met with the owner of the infamous Oheka Castle. We were invited personally by the owner, Gary Melius. Oheka Castle is recognized as one of the most prestigious venues in the world.
Oct 16/18: Spoke on a panel at the Future U Conference in Vancouver hosted by ISSofBC. Laura covered how to enter the Blockchain space in Canada as a new immigrant.
Oct 20/18: Mentored and spoke at the BrightIdeas workshop hosted by Simon Fraser University. The workshop teaches high school students fundamental business skills, from marketing to human resources.
October 21/18: Mentored and spoke at the Driving WinTech hackathon in partnership with Protohack and Women in Tech World. Attendees were invited to brainstorm ideas, build programming tools and pitch their idea for the chance to win prizes and ongoing mentorship.
October 25/18: Spoke at the Vancouver chapter of Whisky Wisemen, a not-for-profit organization whose value proposition is to do one thing each day that betters you and the community you live in. Laura was featured as this month’s Women of Influence speaker series.
October 27/18: Attended Japan-Texas Investment Real Estate Seminar in Tokyo. An incredible meeting, where we learned more about how Japanese business people invest in other economies, such as Texas.
October 29 — 30: Met with Sheikh Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Maktoum’s head of business development. We were given an overview of how to work with the Sheikh’s office to fast track business development possibilities in the region, with developers, governments and beyond.
November 2018
Overview
After passing a series of interviews, we were hand-selected to be one of the BETA startups featured at Web Summit 2018! We also had the opportunity to booth and pitch at the annual VanFunding conference, the same conference where a few years prior the initial idea for REITIUM was born!
Press
Interviewed by Becky Liggero from Coin Geek at the Malta Blockchain Summit.
Interviewed by Adrian Spiteri from Public Broadcasting Services Limited (PBS), Malta’s public broadcasting company.
Interviewed by the official media of Malta Blockchain Summit.
Interviewed by ICO Expert at the Malta Blockchain Summit.
Interviewed by ICO TV at the Malta Blockchain Summit.
Interviewed by Reuters Insider — CryptoCoinShow Podcast Interview.
Interviewed by the official media of the VanFunding Conference in Vancouver.
Tech
Our tech team worked diligently to work on the REITIUM Fund Manager, targeted at accredited investors networks, syndicates, REITs, family offices and institutional investors. This portal will allow these groups to manage multiple investors and properties under one account.
Events & Community
Nov 1 — 2: Boothed, Pitched and Interviewed at the Malta Blockchain Summit after being selected to participate at the exclusive pitch competition.
Nov 5 — 8: Boothed and pitched at Web Summit 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal. We made it to the finals on the startup pitch stage! This was a very successful first first roadshow to Europe.
Nov 14/18: Attended the 6th annual Dress for Success Charity Luncheon a community empowering women reentering the workforce by providing career development tools and a network of support.
Nov 23/18: Spoke at the Canadian Korean Business Association in Vancouver. The CKBA enables individuals and business organizations in Canada and Korea to advance trade, commerce, investment and partnerships through advocacy, information/resource sharing and networking opportunities.
Nov 29 — 30: Boothed, Pitched and Interviewed at the VanFunding conference, a conference in Vancouver. This conference has a special place in the hearts of the REITIUM co-founding team. In 2016, Laura and Michael met at the event. The following year, Michael and Laura won the hackathon at VanFunding which led to the creation of REITIUM.
December 2018
Overview
We updated our marketing materials! We created seamless branding throughout our marketing, website, banners and cards allows us to tell a cohesive message and to be recognized globally. All of the conferences, meetings and traveling supports our main goal: democratizing Real Estate.
Press
Interviewed by ICO Alert as a Podcast Guest.
Nominated: Our CPO, Michael Moll, has been nominated for the BC Business 30 Under 30 competition! The competition celebrates the province’s next generation of leaders: young entrepreneurs and innovators who are accomplished beyond their years.
Tech
To close out the year, our tech team updated the REITIUM website to keep in line with our updated marketing materials. The new design is improved for user experience, ensuring a seamless web and mobile UX/UI design.
Events & Community
Dec 12/18: Spoke at RED Academy educating students on blockchain, startups and how REITIUM is changing the face of investors.
Dec 13 & 18: Hosted Investor information sessions to share the latest developments of our platform and offer an opportunity to invest in our seed round.
Dec 20/18: To commemorate our first festive season as a team REITIUM came together at VanDusen Gardens in Vancouver to celebrate the holiday season and successes of 2018.
Thanks for reading through our 2018 in review!
Check back soon to capture our 2019 in review in the coming weeks!
Stay in touch
- Telegram: https://t.me/reitium
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reitium/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reitium/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/reitium
- Website: https://reitium.com
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/reitium
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/REITIUM
