EXCLUSIVE: The top blockchain startups to watch in 2019

Recently, US-based market research firm International Data Corporation predicted that global blockchain spending will account for almost $2.9 billion in 2019, which is an 88.7% increase from 2018, as more companies adopt distributed ledger technology and mass-use cases appear.

Despite being still very much in its infancy, the ecosystem is flourishing thanks to tokenized economies, developers, service providers and entrepreneurs who are breaking the mould. Especially notable is the emergence of more scalable blockchain systems that have been built to overcome the issues faced by Ethereum for quite some time.

New functional blockchain programming languages are being adopted, and even Erlang, a major infrastructure piece of the internet that everybody is using on a day-to-day basis without knowing it, is powering next generation systems that are being explored and adopted by global industry titans.

With thousands of innovative companies around the world trying to solve market inefficiencies by leveraging the benefits that blockchain technology provides, these innovators can be found in every industry, from content creation and transportation to financial services.

Here are six companies on my radar using the technology as a core piece of their business.

Abend

Almost everyone has experienced the disappointment of failing to get tickets for their favourite band, either because of a poorly managed ticketing system or the efforts of professional ticket touts. For event organisers, the frustrations are exactly the same, with no standout solutions for ensuring their tickets get the real fans they want them to.

Step forward, Abend from Germany, which enables event organisers to do away with a flawed model for distributing and verifying tickets, in favour of a cashless and vastly more secure digital offering. Its Beta will be launched in the next two months.

Ampnet

As renewable energy sources increasingly meet consumers’ priorities of reliability, affordability and environmental responsibility, more and more communities are turning to electric cooperatives to meet their needs. In doing so, they require tools to help them operate, measure and charge for the energy produced.

This is a problem Ampnet from Croatia is tackling through its hardware and software suite. It provides every new or existing electric cooperative with a full set of tools to manage payments, invoicing, smart metering, demand side management, crowdinvesting and community governance.

Cryptotask

Through platforms like Fiverr and Upwork, freelancing has already been transformed by the internet economy. However, blockchain networks can provide a new wave of security and functionality, with stored work histories, better tracking for distributed projects and lower transaction costs.

Cryptotask is a decentralised task-oriented blockchain platform looking to disrupt current systems via blockchain. One key innovation it is introducing is a reviewer board selection mechanism which includes an escalation option.

Cryptic Legends

Digital collectables are one of the most talked about use cases for tokens and cryptocurrencies. Major football teams across the world are delving into the space to monetise their players’ brands, while the price of Enjin Coin, a cryptocurrency for blockchain games, recently skyrocketed after being linked with the Samsung S10 blockchain phone.

Against this backdrop, Malta-based trading card game company, Crypto Legends, is building momentum with its trading card game, where collectable cards (depicting various heroes) can be traded on an open market and used across games.

UTU technologies

According to a PWC report that looked at the sharing economy, spending in this area is expected to grow to $335 billion in 2025. In China, an estimated 700 million people used sharing economy platforms in 2017.

It is against this backdrop that UTU Technologies, which is based in Mauritius and Kenya, is operating. It provides a trust ecosystem for the sharing economy, through its Trust API. This seamlessly serves up personalised recommendations for trusted service providers on sharing platforms to drive your conversion, satisfaction, retention and viral acquisition.

Homeport

With companies such as SpaceX aiming to put thousands of new satellites in space over the coming years, the possibilities that will be enabled by this new data are unimaginably large.

Homeport is an ambitious project working towards the efficient collection of satellite data. From earth imaging and atmospheric data to broadband internet and maritime communications, all through a decentralised global hub built atop the æternity blockchain. With an innovative system of smart contracts, it is an open marketplace for data storage and ground station capacity.

Blockchain technology is truly inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs on a global scale. But it’s not only the tech startups embracing the technological innovations, blue chip brands such as IBM, SAP, BP, Samsung, and more are all rapidly exploring decentralised ledger systems and new technologies.