EY Selects 6 Blockchain Startups for Acceleration Program

“Big Four” audit firm Ernst & Young (EY) has announced the six startups it has selected for its 2016 blockchain-focused EY Startup Challenge.

The six startups will head to Canary Wharf, London for the six-week acceleration program, which will begin on September 12 and end on October 20, 2016 with demo day.

“We are hugely excited to explore together with these six startup businesses how blockchain can be used to transform digital rights management and energy trading,” Jamie Qiu, the founder and lead of the EY Startup Challenge, said in a statement.

“These two key areas are ripe for change and we believe blockchain has the potential to bring about notable enhancements in productivity and transparency. We think that the prospective impact of this technology outside of the financial services sector is enormous, and we look forward to exploring this collaboratively.”

At the end of the program, the six solutions and prototypes will have the opportunity, if selected, to be further developed to a pilot state with EY, gain support and long-term access to the firm’s network, resources and expertise.

The six ventures that will join the program are:

Adjoint, an American startup, is building a new messaging and consensus protocol allowing enterprises to deploy, maintain and analyze a global network of smart contracts on top of a blockchain.

Headquartered in San Francisco, the BitFury Group develops and delivers software and hardware solutions for businesses, governments, organization and individuals to move assets across the blockchain. The BitFury Group has partnered with the Republic of Georgia earlier this year for a blockchain land titling project.

BlockVerify has developed a blockchain-based anti-counterfeit solution providing transparency to supply chains.

BTL Group Ltd., known for being the first blockchain company to go public on the Toronto Stock Exchange, offers blockchain solutions to businesses across various industries. The company has recently built a prototype that uses a blockchain-based interbank payment network built on its core settlement and asset trading solution Interbit.

Tallysticks utilizes blockchain technology to deliver efficiencies across financial workflows. Its technology enables businesses to automate the invoicing and invoice financing processes, making it easier, cheaper, faster and more transparent.

London-based, JAAK is a venture providing a “Smart Content” platform for digital media. Its protocol acts as an “operating system” for defining, managing and commercializing media and metadata on the blockchain.

According to Rahul Gautam, partner and head of TMT Advisory Services at EY UK and Ireland, “blockchain represents a unique opportunity for media companies to accelerate their growth ambitions by simplifying the secure production, management, and distribution of content.”

“The EY Startup Challenge will fuse the best thinking from the blockchain startup community with EY’s people and clients to produce functioning solutions that demonstrate the art of the possible,” Gautam said.

The news came simultaneously with the debut of Accenture Fintech Innovation Lab London 2016 with applications being now accepted for the 12-week program.

This year’s Accenture Fintech Innovation Lab London is being expanded to support insurtech ventures and select 20 startups.