Blockchain: B-Hub For Europe
Blockchain: B-Hub For Europe
BLOCKCHAIN
REPORT
DECEMBER 2020
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WHO WE ARE
B-hub for Europe involves five ecosystems and five leading business
accelerators in Europe: Italy, Germany, Romania, France and Lithuania.
They are all key entities in their local innovation environments and highly
dynamic actors who can play a role of local catalysts to drive up local
hubs for startups’ growth and scaleup.
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ABOUT B-HUB
PROJECT
THE EVOLVING
LANDSCAPE FOR
BLOCKCHAIN
GROWTH AND USE
CASES DEVELOPMENT
Blockchain solutions viability requires careful assessment and testing through co-design
approaches starting from effective demonstrating cases
The main challenge for blockchain-based solutions is to help potential users/adopters carefully assess
how blockchain can be integrated in the current processes/operations/procedures and how this can
bring technical improvements, economic saving, competitive advantages and organisational benefits.
This means identify and clearly shape challenges and needs and adjust or customize the required
solutions. Efforts should be taken to translate challenges and needs into specific technology
requirements and design customized blockchain applications that can be really viable for the specific
organisation starting from explanatory and demonstrating cases.
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The EU is perceived as a fairly transparent and value-driven conglomerate of countries, tech ecosystems and
economies, with the aim to create more communication and exchanges between the players. That’s why we
believe that blockchain startups are a key factor in piloting various use cases and help achieve this mission we all
dream for the EU.
We believe that now is the right time to push for growth in blockchain area. As the general hype is going down,
we’re entering a phase of early maturity; while the potential adoption being more realistic, makes it more
feasible.
In our studies we’ve discovered dozens of use cases all over Europe which made us dream about their potential
impact, in healthcare, in finance, public sector, supply-chain, energy supply and utilities, private funding and
angel investing, certification and smart cities. Small wins in each of these area will push the whole ecosystem
higher, seeing more adoption, better understanding and thus more impact in our society.
The blockchain startups face various challenges, sometimes quite different compared with startups in other
areas. The market challenge consists in the slow adoption of the technology and the poor understanding of its
use cases as seen in the previous years. We plan to address this by assisting the startups in the go-to-market
strategy with webinars and consultancy, by helping them understand how they can better approach potential
stakeholders and connecting them with relevant organisations and people.
In the following pages we offer an overview over the 5 ecosystems that we focus in the B-hub project, but our
intent by the end of the project is to get an overview of developments regarding startups growth and use cases
adoption throughout Europe.
Where we are
TODAY
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France’s blockchain ecosystem is very dynamic and spans across industrial groups, academia, startups, large to medium
consulting firms and communities of enthusiasts. The French blockchain sector counts with relatively long-standing interest from
financial institutions and an increasing support from the State.
Government support to the blockchain field has been on the rise, with growing interest of the Ministry of Economy, the General
Direction for Companies (DGE) and the Interministerial Directorate for Digital (DINUM).
Year 2019 has been a landmark for blockchain in France with the adoption of the Pacte law. This law improved the legal
framework for both token issuance and digital asset service providers. Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire, also announced that
4.5 billion euros would have been invested in deep tech innovation, including blockchain technologies, in the next five years.
The topic of cryptocurrencies remains sensitive for the executive, over a deteriorated national security context. Though declaring
no intention to hamper blockchain innovation, Le Maire has proposed in late 2020 measures to restrict regulation of crypto-
exchange platforms, assuming the existence of links with terrorism funding.
Blockchain experimentations in the public sector are limited, but to some extent rising. Examples include notarization of
documents and trailing of financial flows (military police), data audit trailing (customs), CBDC for interbank settlements (national
central bank). The education sector is the focus of the European Blockchain Service Infrastructure in France, with a project of
integration of a blockchain node (RENATER).
On the private side, most large corporates have implemented or experimented blockchain to some extent, though rarely further
than proofs of concept. Large consulting firms continue to capture a large part of blockchain service provision (between others
IBM, Sopra Steria, Accenture, Havas…). The startup ecosystem counts with more than 150 companies active in almost all sectors.
Fintech represents a large part of existing startups, but the number of innovative companies in health, supply chain, digital
identity and cyber security is relatively high.
From a geographical perspective, the Paris region is the most active hub for blockchain. Other dynamic hubs include Lyon and
Aix-Marseille. Community building initiatives are numerous. France counts with five accelerators specialized in blockchain, that
also gather a blockchain community around events, topical conferences,etc. In addition, in Paris only, there are more than 150
blockchain-related meetup groups, of which 16 have more than 500 members. Major annual events include the Paris Blockchain
Week Summit, Paris Blockchain Summit, and Paris Blockchain by Corp.
The Garage Association pour le Fédération Française des Chain Accelerator Station F Coinhouse
Développement des Actifs Professionnels de la
Numériques Blockchain
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Multi-sector
Cybersecurity
Communities
Fintech
Origin Labs is a Blockchain R&D lab for modern and trustable applications.
Tozex offers Tokenization platform for fundraising and managing digital assets.
MCLedger specializes in innovative Cloud, AI and Blockchain applications for Supply chain
and Fintech.
Emblock.co - B2B blockchain technology for digital transformation and energy transition.
While Germany has a very high number of blockchain startups, there is not much enterprise involvement. Some
larger players such as E.ON, Siemens and Daimler are carefully exploring use-cases, but Germany can still
improve a lot in terms of blockchain adoption. Regulation is rather restrictive but the BaFin (finance regulator)
has made good progress in providing guidance and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy has released a
German Blockchain Strategy and seeks continuous dialogue with the ecosystem.
Germany is home to some of the key startups in the blockchain ecosystem, and Berlin is seen as the unofficial
home of the Ethereum project. Meanwhile Berlin alone has about 100 active blockchain startups and Germany
has over 200.
Fintech and cryptocurrencies is the clear leading use case, followed by entertainment, identity, IoT, public
infrastructure and energy. The majority of startups have been founded during 2017-2018.
In december 2020, Germany passed new legislation to introduce all-electronic securities as part of its wider
blockchain strategy.
Fintech and
cryptocurrencies Entertainment
IoT
Identity
Public infrastructure
Enabling interfacing between hard and software. Allowing machines to become economic
participants.
Create, track, manage, and trade (software) licenses along the supply chain in a
transparent, secure, and automated manner using blockchain.
Building open source, customized energy exchanges to enable local marketplaces that
interconnect to form a smart, transactive grid.
Decentralized software solutions that enable people, organizations, and machines to own
and control their identity information.
Enabling blockchain for mass market gaming and offering one of the most popular EOS
wallets, Wombat.
Offering a Digital Identity solution for individuals and corporates, called helix id.
Building a global data network that allows the devices of tomorrow to connect, commit and
communicate efficiently.
Blockchain-based solutions and services, which include a fundraising and investing platform,
an employee stock option plan (ESOP) manager, a light wallet, post-investment instruments,
and more.
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The deep-tech ecosystem experienced impressive growth in Italy during the last five years. In the blockchain domain, a major
boost was given by new-brand dynamic startups, which generated increased awareness on blockchain potential deploying more
numerous pilots and business cases. B-HUB for Europe mapping led to the identification of about 120 startups in the Italian
ecosystem dealing with the development of platforms and web/mobile applications deploying blockchain expertise. 53% are very
young innovative companies established in the period 2018-2020.
A major hub in the country is Milan, where the Polytechnic plays a major role in monitoring trends in this field with a dedicated
Blockchain and DLT Observatory. Though a significant number of startups are based in Lombardy, blockchain competence
centres are consolidating in the whole country. Software as a Service or license fee-based business models prevail among
startups. B2B is mostly applied towards medium-large industrial enterprises, banks, insurance companies, even though
applications for SMEs are growing steadily.
Technology adoption through pilot projects is expanding among companies and public administrations. In the last two years,
more attention was brought by the national government to the blockchain technology domain. DLT definition was established by
Decree, as well as smart contract legal validity. A dedicated fund, endowed with EUR 45 million, to leverage vertical applications in
AI and Blockchain was established and is expected to become operative in 2021. A Task Force of 30 experts was assigned with
support to the elaboration of a national blockchain strategy to guide efforts and investments at country level. In 2019 Italy joined
the European Blockchain Partnership to act at international level in the blockchain domain and establish strategic partnerships
for further diffusion of the technology towards citizens and enterprises. In 2019 the Ministry of Economic Development launched
a first pilot project in partnership with IBM, involving associations of SMEs, to exploit the blockchain potential for Made in Italy
products protection and, more specifically, for traceability in the textile sector. In September 2020, a study conducted by OECD
and funded by the Ministry of Economic Development was published providing an overview of the development of the blockchain
ecosystem in Italy.
17% of the mapped startups offer solutions for more transparent flow along with the supply chain journey and trace products’
origin and intermediate suppliers.A substantial share of mapped companies (25%) offer blockchain-based multi-sector platforms,
multiple products/services or expertise for customised project development in different sectors. A rising trend is also observed
from startups offering products and services for the public sector (13.8% of mapped startups) to boost dematerialisation and
automation and ensure transparency and immutability, especially for certificates and accreditation. One example is the pilot
project “Nidi Gratis” in the Lombardy Region put in place to simplify the application process to childcare services and streamline
the public service offering.
In 2020, after the COVID-19 spreading, startups started developing blockchain applications to monitor/trace the epidemic
evolution and certify actions to reduce infection risks. Some examples are: Sanistory - Certified Digital Tracking Service for
buildings sanitisation offered by B2Lab or diagnostic kits to trace COVID-19 infection piloted by EZ Lab in cooperation with AB
Analitica.
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Multi-sector
Digital Marketing
Charity Wall generates transparency and trust through blockchain technology for the
charity sector, Founded: February 2019
Commerc.io B2B e-commerce and document exchange blockchain eIDAS compliant platform
Founded: January 2018
EcoSteer IoT and Blockchain software company for data streams ownership and
monetization, Founded: April 2017
Smartlabs Smart blockchain-based solutions design and implementation, Proof of Concepts and
customised projects, Founded: January 2017
TESEO Advanced Ambient Assisted Living platforms for care facilities and seniors living alone,
Founded: December 2015
VOLVERO Vehicles sharing leveraging a secure DLT system, Founded: May 2018
Banking&Insurance
Other
In 2020 six R&D projects were funded by the Ministry of Economic Development through the national Fund for Development and
Cohesion in the blockchain technology area with a total of 7.5 million funds. The projects address digital identity and
digitalisation of processes and food traceability.
Polytechnic of Milan, SDA Bocconi-School of Management, LUISS Business School, University of Bologna, CEFRIEL and Cineca
Blockchain Lab are main education centres and competence hubs promoting the blockchain technology through courses, main
conferences, studies and surveys and projects development.
Lithuanian blockchain startups space mainly includes fintech startups as its base. The Lithuanian national
innovation priority is to promote fintech sector and its close nature with blockchain results in a great environment
for new startups development in the field. Currently the National Bank Of Lithuania ensures innovative regulatory
framework to create opportunities for blockchain startups to settle in the country. Startups in the field are mainly
providing cryptocurrency exchange services and backend solutions for smooth cryptocurrency management.
Other developments in blockchain industry are happening in ICT sector with startups developing identity and data
management solutions, also in edtech, agriculture and entertainment fields.
ICT
Other
Fintech
Incentivization and lifelong data empowerment solutions made for people and businesses.
Business solution that allows online and physical shops payment in cryptocurrencies.
The payment gateway offers cryptocurrency payment processing services for businesses
of any sizes.
We build an ecosystem where users can create a self-sovereign identity, collect their
data and utilize it while interacting with businesses.
A marketplace, which connects companies directly with green energy generators so that
all companies can make a tangible environmental impact whilst buying green energy at
competitive rates with full transparency.
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Romania’s blockchain startup ecosystem is based on the developers and software agencies which went into
adopting this technology, once the trend and demand was growing, blockchain technology being very hyped in the
past years.
In time, the (mostly) tech startup founders understood that there is a clear need to connect with various industries
and identify use cases which were not that obvious. On the way, we noticed that companies in various domains are
not that eager to adopt blockchain solutions as they couldn’t understand clearly the use and the technology. This
still remains an obstacle nowadays, and founders understood that there was a lot of patience needed.
The strongest area utilizing blockchain is obviously the financial sectors, followed by a growing trend in health and
supply chain. The most active blockchain clusterings are overlapping with the general software development
centers, like Bucharest which usually hosts half of the startups in any area, followed by Cluj, Iasi, Timisoara, Brasov
and Sibiu.
An overall mapping of the ecosystem, led to the discovery of 50 Romanian-based blockchain-related startups,
although we suspect that many other Romanians are involved in such startups, but not activize in our local
ecosystem, but somewhere else in Europe and in the world.
One of the recent projects with capacity to influence for good the ecosystem, including the blockchain part is the
RoStartup.com strategy project, which aims to develop a strategy for encouraging innovative entrepreneurial
ecosystem with the use of high tech also. The working groups are being in formed in January and it is expected to
have first results during spring of 2020.
Retail
Health
AlphaBlock has developed a General AI engine to generate smart investment portfolios and
intelligence solutions, validated in blockchain. AlphaBlock becomes the essence of
everything linked with data predictability, evolving into an intelligence layer on the
blockchain and the web.
Balance offers an institutional grade digital asset custody and wallet management
solution to crypto exchanges, OTC desks, and funds. Assets are kept secure in
geographically distributed offline vaults on dedicated, military grade hardware
Morfin Blockchain community banking. No matter what your currency of choice is, you
can operate on the market with one single mobile app.
iFactor is a digital B2B platform that brings together SMEs (no individuals) that need
liquidity and investors (banks, funds, institutional and private individual investors) with
the intention to provide liquidity to the SMEs through buying their outstanding invoices.
FilmChain is a blockchain platform that collects, allocates and analyses revenues for
film, TV and digital content. FilmChain is the fintech solution for money to flow from
point of sale to rights-holders' pockets. Transparent, real-time, no friction, no crypto.
Swazm offers a complete multi cloud management platform that makes development
services easy to manage, deploy and monitor, backed by an AI-based security firewall.
The Carmel Tweak-N-Learn Tech Educational Model is a radical departure from traditional
video courses and helps you acquire new technical skills faster and more effectively, in a
professional development environment.
Modex helps developers start building on top of the Ethereum Blockchain with everything
they need in one single place.
MIGRANT COIN to enable migrants to send money to a recipient in their home country
safely through blockchain.
Selfd.id launched the first integrated decentralized platform for digital identity solutions in
Romania, allowing confidential exchange of digital credentials between institutions,
organizations and individuals