Andrian Galkin, COO and Co-founder, Storiqa

Coin Rivet: Tell us about Storiqa

AG: Storiqa was founded in August 2017, with the aim of creating a quick to set up marketplace for SMEs with minimal financial borders and global transactional fees, and to provide a quality guarantee for buyers who don’t know who to trust online anymore. Key features and tools are based on using cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to resolve existing industry problems between buyers and sellers.

Long story short, fake or spam reviews are eliminated from the platform through blockchain assured smart review, payments are sped up and transaction fees are minimised thanks to cryptocurrency payment, and a tokenised business model creates a self-sustaining STQ token economy providing higher cash back to buyers and access to preferential platform features for sellers.

To attract sellers and increase product range and availability, there is a 60-day free trial, followed by the lowest fees for platform usage of any major online marketplaces for continued use.

Coin Rivet: What was the inspiration behind setting up the company?

AG: We wanted to make the global market more accessible for any small-medium sized producer, so we created a marketplace that got rid of the hassle and many of the obstacles faced by sellers and allowed them to ‘set up shop’ in just one hour.

From the consumer side, we considered the same thing; how do we remove the main complaints that buyers experience? That is, product quality and dodgy or slow transactions. The answer, blockchain.

Coin Rivet: What has the industry reaction been so far? 

AG: Using blockchain in e-commerce is a relatively new thing. It’s seen as a ‘trend for future years’. However, we want to speed that up a bit by stripping away the uncertainty and inaccessibility that sometimes surrounds blockchain and cryptocurrency and make it usable and understandable by anyone who wants to enjoy its many benefits.

Many of the big players are trying to implement blockchain and cryptocurrency into their operations, such as Amazon looking into partnerships with Ripple. However, building blockchain into an existing platform is incredibly difficult and complex. Storiqa is in a uniquely advantageous situation where we’re catching the wave early, and we’re building a rock solid blockchain-based platform from the ground up.

Coin Rivet: What has been your biggest challenge?

AG: We have to work simultaneously on several large issues; 1.) we have to ensure that our token is viable and rising in value on crypto exchanges, 2.) in order to develop the platform itself, we must attract a huge number of sellers to the platform, and 3.) we have to establish and increase exposure our brand to attract customers to the marketplace.

These challenges are typically faced by all emerging marketplaces and all nascent cryptocurrencies. However, in our case we have to grow both sides of the company at high speed and yet balance these two factors for stable growth. Technologically speaking, we had to work extremely diligently to perfect our multi-currency wallet. It allows fast and safe transactions in both our own STQ tokens, other major cryptos and in common currencies. We intend to maximise the use of blockchain to simplify business in the long-term for ourselves, for the sellers and our buyers.

Coin Rivet: What was the best question a) an investor and b) a customer has asked of you concerning either the market or the company itself?

AG: From investors, when lambo? (A common and comic question in the crypto community about when they’ll be able to afford a Lamborghini off their investments). Many of our investors just want lightning fast and dramatic ROI for their STQ tokens, but what we’re creating is not a ‘bubble’ or a ‘one-hit wonder’; we’re creating a stable, healthy and self-sustaining internal economy that is reliable, and will grow in value over time.

From customers, when is the platform launch? Both our buyers and sellers are eager to start trading, and we’re doing our best to finalise the platform and open it up to buyers as soon as possible. As we develop the product, we have incremental releases of our functions so that both our sellers and investors can witness the progress and familiarise themselves with the functions before trading begins.

Interested sellers can learn more at http://vendors.storiqa.com. Buyers and investors can visit https://storiqa.com for information, news and updates about Storiqa.

Coin Rivet: What can we expect to see from Storiqa over the next 12 months?

AG: In 12 months, we intend to have established a smoothly operating e-commerce marketplace. We’ll be in full swing, with a large variety of goods available to buy using our fully functional multi-currency wallet, a happy customer base receiving high quality products and any small producer able to sign up and tap into global sales with no difficulty and at low cost.