ConsenSys Ventures has named the 10 blockchain startups it will fund and mentor this spring through its accelerator program Tachyon. They range from a crypto gift card provider to a peer-to-peer energy-trading platform.
One of those selected is London-based Genomes.io. It wants to use blockchain technology to give users a way to share their DNA data without giving up control of it. Traditionally, if you gave your saliva to a company, like 23andMe, to find out your chance of getting various illnesses, you would have no say over what the company did with your genome next. Whereas if you buy sequencing on Genomes.io’s platform, you get the chance to profit yourself by selling your genetic information.
Genomes.io is not the first to have this idea. Nebula Genomics started offering a similar service last November. But the global market in genetic testing is estimated to grow at 10-15 percent per year in the coming five years, so it may be able to take the competition.
Peer-to-peer risk-sharing service IBISA is another start-up getting ConsenSys funding. Its pitch is that blockchain technology and satellite imagery help to give it a cost advantage over other the microinsurance companies that typically cater to consumers on incomes between $1 and $4 a day.
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The accelerator program—named after the tachyon, a theoretical particle faster than the speed of light—offers successful applicants pre-seed funding of $100,000 and expert mentoring. Led by Kavita Gupta, the program appealed for projects that could “take the Ethereum ecosystem to the next level.” After two months, the accelerator will help the startups pitch to angel investors. Other companies in the cohort include cryptocurrency security provider Cypherock, contract security provider Sooho, link-sharing network Linkdrop, gift card provider Ether.cards, energy-trading platform Blok-Z, litigation investment platform Lawcoin, data authenticator Sensor.Link, and identity protocol Glimpse.