Today SmartHalo launched a new and improved second-generation version of its all-in-one smart bicycle accessory. The minimalist device securely mounts to the handlebars of any standard bike, turning it into a smart bike. It is now available on Kickstarter for $99 USD.

SmartHalo 2 Kickstarter

After a successful Kickstarter campaign for SmartHalo in 2015, the company is back with a revamped second-gen product that cyclists can customize to fit their cycling style. SmartHalo 2 maintains the core functionality of version one, with a number of hardware and software upgrades and a focus on personalization. Like its predecessor, SmartHalo 2’s five core features include a navigation system, a powerful light, an anti-theft alarm, fitness tracking, and personal assistant.
Central to the tech’s minimalist design is an intuitive halo of light that guides cyclists to their destination with turn-by-turn signals, tracks fitness goals and much more. It even greets users when they hop on their bike. The circular interface has been designed to keep cyclists focused on the road.

Among SmartHalo 2’s over 30 upgrades include a smaller size, discreet 1.5” OLED screen, extensive customization of metrics to suit any cycling style, GPX and waypoints integration, a universal mount adapter compatible with quarter lock mounts, a 5-times more powerful smart front light that now automatically adjusts based on the environment, and more.

“We made these improvements based on customer feedback and so we can further get to the root of why each individual cycles,” said CEO and co-founder Xavier Peich. “From commuters and fitness buffs, to casual cyclists and everyone in between, each cyclist has different wants and needs so tech like this needs to address that.”

Among SmartHalo 2’s most notable upgrade are a universal mount (RoadMount) compatible with any standard quarter lock mounts, GPX and waypoints integration, and a discreet 1.5” OLED black and white display with crisp, luminous digits, which allows cyclists to customize a carousel of real-time metrics specific to their type of biking and “why they cycle” (e.g. speed, distance ridden, time spent biking, calories, timer, weather alerts, CO2 saved, clock, navigation info and battery level). Because ultimately, the cyclist knows why and how they want to conquer the road that day. Plus, it has a horn that can play La Cucaracha.

SmartHalo 2 Features

• Navigation – SmartHalo 2 uses an innovative navigation algorithm, custom built for cycling. Cyclists enter their destination in the app, choose their path (e.g. fastest, flattest, safest, or recommended) and the circular interface right on their handlebars guides them with intuitive, turn-by-turn, light signals. Cyclists can also set waypoints en route to their destination, and import/export GPX files. Distance to destination and ETA are shown both on the device and in the app.
• Alarm – SmartHalo stays on the bike at all times with the anti-theft lock to ensure theft protection. The internal motion sensor makes sure that any persistent meddling with a bike triggers a loud, 100db alarm when the cyclist isn’t around. When the cyclist comes back, it disarms automatically
• Fitness – SmartHalo 2 tracks distance traveled, speed, time, calories, and elevation. It lets users set fitness goals in the app, view lifetime stats, and detailed metrics in the app and on the handlebars. It also has Strava integration.
• Light – At night, cyclists can see and be seen. As soon as the sun sets, SmartHalo 2’s 250 lumens
• Assistant – Cyclists should be keeping their eyes on the road and not be thinking about missing calls. SmartHalo 2 allows cyclists to receive notifications from various messaging apps (Android), calls on iOS so they don’t need to check their phone at every corner. It also connects with such as Strava, SMS, WhatsApp, Gmail, Messenger, and Slack. Other features include a clock, a horn and other ways to personalize the riding experience.

SmartHalo 2 uses an innovative navigation algorithm, custom built for cycling. Cyclists enter their destination in the app, choose their path (e.g. fastest, flattest, safest, or recommended) and the circular interface on their handlebars guides them with intuitive, turn-by-turn, light signals. Cyclists can also set waypoints en route to their destination, and import/export GPX files. Distance to destination and ETA are shown both on the device and in the app.
For theft protection, SmartHalo stays on the bike at all times with the anti-theft lock. The internal motion sensor makes sure that any persistent meddling with a bike triggers a loud, 100db alarm when the cyclist isn’t around. When the cyclist comes back, it disarms automatically.

SmartHalo 2 Fitness Tracking

To help with fitness tracking, SmartHalo 2 tracks distance traveled , speed, time, calories, and elevation. It lets users set fitness goals in the app, view lifetime stats, and detailed metrics in the app and on the handlebars. It also has Strava integration.
At night, cyclists can see and be seen. At night or in dim conditions, SmartHalo 2’s 250 lumens rechargeable light turns on automatically with the help of its light sensors. When the ride is finished, it shuts down on its own.
Further personalizing the riding experience, SmartHalo 2 can allow cyclists to receive notifications from various messaging apps (Android) and calls on iOS so they don’t need to check their phone at every corner. It connects with apps such as SMS, WhatsApp, Gmail, Messenger, and Slack.

“Cycling is a healthy, convenient, economical, and eco-friendly way to get around so, with SmartHalo, we’re aiming to encourage more cycling by amplifying the experience,” said Chief Design Officer and co-founder Gabriel Alberola.
The estimated delivery date of SmartHalo 2 is December 2019. For more information on pledge breakdown please see the Kickstarter page.

About SmartHalo Technologies Inc

SmartHalo Technologies Inc is a venture-backed, Montreal-based technology and design company. It strives to improve urban mobility by building amazing cycling products that combine sophisticated technologies and elegant simplicity. Launched initially as a massively successful Kickstarter campaign, the first product has been sold so far to 25,000 cyclists in over 70 countries. It is distributed in Apple Stores, Amazon, Best Buy, Gravis, MoMa Design Stores, and more.

The post SmartHalo launches SmartHalo 2 second-generation all-in-one smart bicycle accessory on Kickstarter appeared first on ChipIn.

The centralized nature of major industries has been exposed massively by worrying events, rocking the public’s perception on whether centralized systems can be trusted enough in in terms of security and privacy.

This statement is proved by the increasing number of scandals in recent times, most notably the Equifax and the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data breach, two major events that has raised major concerns on the security and ethics of personal data in centralized systems.

Problems like these have led to an ever-increasing call for decentralization and more transparent practices in institutions and businesses. New rules and regulations like the recently introduced EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are positive steps in overcoming these weaknesses but the problems still remain—vulnerabilities will always be prone to breaches and leaks due to how centralized systems are built.

One of the verticals set to benefit the most from the blockchain is the financial sector, an industry that has shockingly inadequate security and privacy practices in spite of its importance to the world.

The main problem stems from the fact that important sensitive data such as personal info or credit card numbers are stored centrally which means that if the database were to be hacked, every single piece of data would be compromised—and that’s without taking in the risks of database errors and bugs.

From the points mentioned above, it’s clear that the blockchain is an ideal solution for most, if not all, of the problems plaguing the financial industry. With its properties, things like data leaks can be avoided easily and with the amount of money already spent on tightening security measures, there’s no reason not to implement the blockchain in major industries.

Thankfully, more and more blockchain startups are appearing to fill these gaps and one of the more promising ones is Elix, a project set to disrupt the financial sector with its revolutionary blockchain-based financial solutions.

Elix introduces financial solutions including payments, loans, and crowdfunding by using Ethereum smart contracts and the blockchain at the core of its technology.

What separates Elix from the crowd is the way its solutions are offered to users; the platform is built to cater to the average user – even users who have zero prior experience in using cryptocurrencies – with a heavy emphasis on increasing ease of use and convenience while maintaining total privacy and security on user data.

This means that a user does not need to be knowledgeable about cryptocurrencies or the blockchain to enjoy the benefits Elix’s financial solutions. Due to its decentralized nature, the sensitive data of users are protected completely as no central authority or intermediary is needed to confirm transactions on the platform.

As mentioned in the whitepaper, Elix focuses on three core goals to achieve its business plan:

• To build a payment ledger as the foundation of the platform
• To build a complete and improved crowdfunding platform for blockchain projects
• To use Elix’s technologies to improve the peer-to-peer lending space

These goals show that Elix is serious in achieving its vision thus making it one of the best projects to keep an eye on. The company has already released the beta version of Elix which can be accessed via Elix’s official website.

Of course, having goals as lofty as Elix’s would require an equally strong team to boot which is exactly what the company has done.

Consisting of a team of experienced and talented individuals and led by fellow co-founders, David Jackson and Melanie Plaza, Elix will aim to establish itself as one of the top dogs in the blockchain financial sector with its solutions.

Elix will provide the following features to its users:

• Lending platform
• Crowdfunding platform
• Payments ledger

The Elix lending platform is perhaps one of the few platforms where loans are done purely peer-to-peer without needing things like escrow or membership tokens. Elix also disrupts the traditional system by rewarding both lenders and borrowers for their participation in loans.

This means that if borrowers successfully repay their loans according to the agreed terms, they’ll be rewarded which acts as an incentive for borrowers to settle their loans on time.

Of course, users also have the ability to adjust the nitty-gritty of their loan agreements with Elix. The details of all loans will be stored in the user’s ledger for easy access to tracking and analyzing financial activities in the platform.

As the platform matures, the Elix team plans to expand the lending platform globally while still maintaining the decentralized nature of the platform.

This future plan also includes introducing a credit scoring system which tracks the credibility of users hence allowing lenders to gauge the reputation of borrowers more efficiently as well as preventing the abuse of Elix’s lending system.

Elix’s smart contract-based crowdfunding platform, Boost, opens up new avenues for promising projects with no or low funding to flourish.

Boost will be powered by the Elixir token (Elix’s official utility token) and Elix will take a very small cut of the amount generated from each crowdfunding project as a means to continue the maintenance and development of the platform.

To ensure that only high-quality projects are listed, the Elix team will manually analyze and verify each proposal hence removing the risks of listing low-effort or shady projects on the crowdfunding platform.

Rounding off Elix’s solutions is the company’s payments ledger. This impressive feature allows users to easily send, receive, and even request payments with Elix’s token.

Sticking true to its name, the payments ledger record all of the user’s transactions including the details of loans (if available) in a simple and intuitive user interface. With this feature, users can easily track their financial activity as well as receiving reminders on upcoming payments.

The payment ledger is linked to a wallet and is protected by a unique passphrase meaning that even if a user uninstalls the Elix application or worse yet, loses his or her phone, the tokens in the wallet can be unlocked and recovered easily with the passphrase.

Other than the passphrase, other security features like the recently introduced Touch ID integration ensures that users are protected as much as possible from vulnerabilities—something that will certainly delight users, especially in today’s landscape.

All of the features mentioned above puts Elix high on our list of the best blockchain projects and with an extremely dedicated and talented team behind the scenes, achieving the platform’s goals is inevitable.

Elix’s Website

Elix’s Whitepaper

The post Elix – Revolutionizing How Loans & Crowdfunding Work With The Blockchain appeared first on ChipIn.

Fintech startups have created financial products that allow customers to enjoy easy payment processes, money transfers, and financial advice via a site or an app. The best part? Since transactions are done online, they can be processed and finished in mere minutes!

Gone are the days when you had to go to the bank, talk to a financial advisor or wait a day to receive money. With fintech, all you need is to avail of the right tools to make your life easier.

In fact, the numbers show that the industry’s growth is far from over. According to an Accenture study, the industry acquired $5.4 billion in investments in the first quarter of 2016. Another study by Statista estimates that banks in North America will spend about $19 billion in financial technologies. This level of growth is a huge leap, but it’s not surprising.

In recent years, fintech startups have created services that can change the way you do business.

Interested to find out what these startups and services are? In this article, we’ll talk about Best Fintech Startups you need to watch out for this 2017.

Best Fintech Startups

1. Tilt

Tilt, recently acquired by AirBnB, introduces an easy way for groups to pool money together for any activity.

It’s a standout because it’s only fintech startup that’s solely focused on making casual social gatherings, group activities and get-together’s possible. Unlike Facebook where everyone’s gathered online, Tilt brings people together to enjoy real events in the real world.

Airbnb Buys Payments Company Tilt to Let Travelers Split Trip Costs

Let’s say, you and your friends want to go overseas, organize a party or enjoy a BBQ. With Tilt, you don’t need to personally chase down them to get financial contributions. The only thing you’ll need is the app.

This is how it works.

First, you make a page on Tilt, send it out to a group, then start collecting money.

Now, what if you don’t get enough funding? Don’t worry!

You and your friends aren’t charged until you’ve reached the target amount. Plus, you can also keep collecting money even after you’ve reached your original target.

Now, how cool is that?

Tilt has raised $67 million and is currently valued at $500 million.

2. Metromile

Metromile is the only company that offers pay-per-mile auto insurance. It lets you pay car insurance based on the amount of miles you drive each week.

Its pay-per-mile service was inspired by the problems with traditional car insurance. Some drivers consume lower than 200 miles each week, yet they have to pay the same amount of insurance as high-mileage drivers.

This is not fair.

Metromile is revolutionizing car ownership to fit your lifestyle

If you barely use your car, then why do you need to pay the same amount of insurance as everyone else?

This is where Metromile comes in.

Their insurance plan allows low-mileage drivers to be charged as low as $35 per month, plus 5 cents per mile. This means that the average low-mileage driver can save up to $500 a year!

So, how does Metromile measure mileage?

A device called ‘Pulse’ is plugged into the car. Not only does it measure mileage, but it also powers the driving app. Metromile’s app can help you locate your car, avoid street sweeping tickets and optimize fuel efficiency.

Now, what if you get into an accident? No worries! Metromile has a reliable claims service that is available 24/7.

But it does not end there.

The company has partnered with Uber to create a specialized plan for the personal and commercial coverage of high-mileage drivers.

Last year, it has raised $200 million in funding. Since it’s the only startup that has successfully implemented a pay-per-mile auto insurance, we’ve included it on this list.

3. WorldRemit

WorldRemit allows users to safely send money abroad. It has the ability to conduct money transfer in 125 countries.

Its charm is in its app, which is simple and easy to use.

To send money in the app, first you choose a country then you choose how to send the money. You can choose to send via bank deposits (money is sent to a bank account), cash pickup (receivers gets money from collection points), mobile money (money is sent a mobile account) and airtime (money is used to acquire talk-time or data allowance for a receiver’s phone). Next, you indicate the amount of money to be sent, the recipient’s’ details and press pay.

The transfer is done in mere minutes with a low transaction fee.

Last year, the company raised $100 million and acquired a valuation of $500 million. The fact that it conducts about 400,000 money transfers each month in 125 countries, makes it one of the most successful money transfer startups in the world.

4. iZettle

iZetlle believes big things start small. Consistent with its belief, the European startup helps small business owners manage their business.

Since it was founded in 2010, the startup has helped users grow to nearly 5x the average!

How it does the job?

The user-friendly point-of-sale app comes with a card reader that works with a smartphone or tablet. This way, business owners can conduct financial transaction anytime and anywhere.

The app also offers an impressive array of financial services that are useful for managing a business. Users can manage their product library, keep track of sales and email receipts to customers. These services are done without a startup cost, contract or a monthly fee.

But what truly makes iZettle a standout in this list is the fact that it requires no startup costs, no contract fees, and no monthly fees.

Now, that is amazing.

In a nutshell, iZettle makes it easy to for users to run and grow their business.

Last year, it raised €60 million Euros and it achieved a valuation of $500 million. Its services are available in 10 European countries, including Brazil and Mexico.

5. Coinify

Still not convinced that bitcoin is the future? Well, I don’t blame you.

It’s not a common currency.

It’s hard to transact and trade with.

That is, until now…

Coinify allows users to accept blockchain and bitcoin payments. This means that can users can purchase bitcoin and accept bitcoin payments directly from their bank account.

But how do you accept bitcoin payments without a bitcoin?

Coinify has all the answers.

The app allows users to accept bitcoin payments and get the payout in the form of their local currency.

Coinify was founded in 2014. Since then, it has raised $4 million.

While the funding it received is small compared to older fintech startups, it’s poised to become the next big thing in the industry. After all, it’s one one of the only startups that have successfully managed to make bitcoin payments work in any financial transaction.

6. Stockspot

Stockspot is an online investment advisor that gives users access to low fee and hassle-free investing.

Its service is inspired by the problem with traditional advisers. Since advisers work with organizations that have their own agenda, investors aren’t sure whether or not the recommendations they receive are for their best interests.

More importantly, most advisors claim that they can beat the market return.

However, the truth is only 3 out of 10 succeed. That is after you include their fees.

Stockspot eliminates all these issues by introducing an online investment advisor that’s paperless, transparent with no hidden agenda.

In order to give the proper investment advice, the app asks questions to determine the risk profile and investment timeframe of its users. Then, it recommends a portfolio that not only matches a user’s circumstance but is also based on a broad range of shares and bonds. Once users invest, they can view their portfolio online and even share the data with their accountant.

The best part?

It costs less than half of the amount paid for an average fund manager.

Say, whaaat?!

Stockspot’s service is definitely a huge leap for the fintech industry.

What makes it a standout in the industry is its online investment advisor. The advisor’s algorithm has the ability to examine the investment behaviors of its customers and use it to improve their financial decisions.

Since the Australian-based startup was founded last 2015, it has raised $1.25 Million.

7. TransferWise

TransferWise is a smart way to send money abroad.

Why?

Traditional banks claim that their transactions are free with 0% commission. In reality, they add a markup to the exchange rate.

In short, your money isn’t converted to the real exchange rate.

Often, banks add a markup to overcharge you. In fact, you pay $50 for every $1000 you transfer.

Now, that is a big amount of money!

With Transferwise, this isn’t a problem. It makes use of the real exchange rate and it has no hidden charges.

It’s 8x cheaper and 5x faster than a bank.

How does it work? It makes use of a peer-to-peer approach.

Let’s say, you’re located in the United States and you want to send money to Germany. The payment is sent over to Transferwise’s US account, while Transferwise’s German account sends money to the recipient. Technically, the money does not cross any borders, which makes their service infinitely cheaper.

Transferwise’s ability to bypass borders when sending out money has changed the way people send money across the world. Not only is their idea truly unique in the industry, but it’s also profitable in the long-term. This makes it one of the top startups to watch out for this 2017.

Transferwise is definitely changing the way money is transferred. Not surprisingly, it has a total funding of $116 million and a valuation of $1.1 billion.

The service is currently available in 44 countries.

8. IdentityMind Global

IdentityMind Global is a fintech startup that serves financial service firms, fintech leaders, and bitcoin marketplaces. It’s best known for its eDNA technology that allows users to evaluate the digital identity of individuals who they’re transacting with.

A digital identity is a set of attributes that consists of email, phone, passport, fingerprint, payment and IP geolocation. The digital identity evolves over time. As users transact with other users, their eDna grows in real-time.

Users with a trusted digital identities have a clean behavior across their financial transaction. They have no ties to non-trusted identities. On the other hand, digital identities of fraudsters and criminals change quickly making them easy to identify.

With the eDna technology, IdentityMind Global enables users to transact only with people they can trust.

Last year, the company has raised $12 million. Since its the pioneer of eDNA technology, the startup is definitely a standout in the fintech industry.

9. Monzo

Monzo is the bank of the future. It aims to become the Facebook of banking and acquire a billion users worldwide.

The vision seems daunting, but certainly not impossible.

Monzo’s service comes with a prepaid MasterCard with a companion app. What’s great about the app is that it provides users with a real-time log that indicates how much they spent.

Let’s say, a user traveled and dined in a fancy restaurant. After using Monzo to pay for the meal, his balance is updated instantly via the app.

The app also provides him with notifications and receipt. In addition, it enables him to view a log of everything that he spent while he traveled. Now, that is the bank of the future!

But that’s not all!

Monzo does not charge overseas transactions and it has 0% commission overseas.

The fintech has a total equity funding of $17 million and a valuation of € 50 million. It was included on this list not only because its app is the easiest to use in the online banking industry, but it has also made financial services available anytime and anywhere.

10. Betterment

Betterment is an online robo-adviser that uses an algorithm to give personalized advice to customers.
The idea is that these robo-advisers would help users grow their financial portfolio.

So, why should robots be the next financial adviser?

The idea was born out of CEO and Founder Jon Stein’s experience as a consultant for financial banks and institutions. Often, the institutions he worked with did not consider the customer’s needs. They had ties to incumbents and companies, which meant that their advice could not always be trusted.

More importantly, governments have encouraged people to invest their money for retirement. These days social security simply isn’t enough.

Enter Betterment, the personalized the automation tool that gives users financial advice on their financial assets.

For example, let’s say a user is planning to invest. At Betterment, he will receive an ETF portfolio and he will be given the option to invest in TRAs, trust and taxable accounts. Not only will the service provide him with advice, but it also managed these assets for him. This way, he can enjoy the present, without the stress of retirement.

Another great thing about Betterment is that it’s easy to use. All users need to do is to indicate their financial goals. Afterward, the robo advisor would tell them how to get to where they want to be.

Betterment’s service is way cheaper than the cost of a financial advisor. In fact, you only need to pay an interest rate of 0.35 and 0.15 percent!

But what makes it a standout in the advising industry?

Betterment’s business model is solely focused on improving their users’ financial portfolio to ensure that they have money for retirement. This differentiates it from other services that offer financial advice in the industry.

The startup is on track to become one of the stars of the fintech industry. The firm has raised $105 million in funding and has acquired a valuation of $700 million.

. A booming market, and a lot of promise

The post Top 10 – The Best Fintech Startups to Watch Out For in 2017 appeared first on ChipIn.

If it were not for the crowdfunding community the blockchain would not be ready to turn us all into more active netizens. Crowdfunders have sunk more money into blockchain technology than any other sector. The blockchain sector has also helped crowdfunding enter the private investment mainstream. Crowdfunding is now the largest private equity asset class, representing 21 percent of all equity investments in the UK in 2016, according to Beauhurts Deal 2016 report.

9 #Crowdfunded #Blockchain Trends Replacing Your #Banking Services in 2017 #Fintech
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Here is our guide to the crowdfunded blockchain technologies ready to transform your digital life in 2017.

But first, the short history of the blockchain and why crowdfunders so zealously back it. It’s a story of a new age crypto-currency maker who meets the father of modern cryptography and invents a secure digital future. The new technologist is Vitali Buterin, a developer of blockchain technology and a cryptocurrency called ether, which has raised around $18 million in crowdfunding. Buterin incubated his ideas at the Canada’s University of Waterloo – incidentally, not far from the world class Perimeter Institute where real world physicists including Nobel laureate Stephen Hawking study the effect of a different kind of either on galactic stars.

The genius of the blockchain is that no one person controls it. Instead, all participants in the transaction have access to the blockchain and must approve future transactions. Tampering with the blockchain would be like breaking into a house while all 20 people with keys to the house looked in through the window and watched you.

Let’s say these 20 investors are chained together through the buying and selling of Apple stock. Each time the investors make a trade, they create a transaction block – a hacker-proof, digital imprint of the sale or purchase of Apple stock. Ethereum’s elegant solution was to add Turing complete scripts to the blockchain, which prevent attacks. These scripts are very different from the “Turing script” for the blockbuster movie on the life of Alan Turing. The brilliant World War II codebreaker’s Turing computing scripts create stronger encryption, allowing a super secure blockchain platform to host financial transactions and virtual assets.
Following are nine financial services that use the blockchain technology crowdfunding has enabled by its early and strong support for blockchain companies, such as the Ethereum and Bitcoin blockchains, exchanges and related services.

1. Payment/Banking Services

If you use digital currencies, you have used the blockchain. The first blockchain was developed by Bitcoin to facilitate digital currency exchange. In 2016, the value of trading in the seven major cryptocurrencies was over $16 billion, according to Coindesk.com.

The first blockchain was developed by Bitcoin to facilitate digital currency exchange.

The uberization of banking services is not only lowering fees but even removing them. Abra Teller is providing free global money transfers in its efforts to replace ATMs with peer-to-peer money transfers. Competitors include Circle and BitPesa for importers and exporters. Funding Circle, the leader in P2P loans, seeks to undercut small business bank lending fees. As competition increases as new P2P financial services are introduced, consumers will be able to shop around for the lowest fees. You will find many of these services offering some free services, hoping you will eventually upgrade to higher priced services.

These virtual financial services like Circle offer lower fees by doing away with expensive middlemen.

Watch for your bricks-and-mortar and online banks to soon offer similar services to compete. Japan’s Rakuten’s acquisition of Bitcoin wallet Bitnet to provide payment services and money transfers over the blockchain is just the start of acquisitions and partnerships to compete with a suite of blockchain banking services.

2. Insurance

The beginning of a potentially huge market in blockchain insurance services is beginning to be rolled out. inSpeer’s innovative crowdfunding platform for insurance policies for electric cars is inspiring new models. By collaborating, the peers are able to bring down the higher cost of insuring electric vehicles.

The blockchain also has an important role in the future of insured valuables. Its potential value in preventing theft and fraud is unpriceable. Twenty percent of the $60 billion art market is believed to be made up of forgeries. Everledger founder Leanne Kemp says counterfeiting is a $1.7 trillion business. These types of frauds and others cost the insurance industry over $2 billion each year.

If the blockchain had existed when your great grandfather bought the Picasso on your library wall, you may have been able to fund 10 college educations with the sales proceeds. Alas, every year billions in potential art sales do not take place because the provenance – a record establishing ownership and authenticity – of the artwork cannot be established. Led by Everledger, blockchain transaction ledgers are changing how assets are valued, tracked and insured. It’s smart contracts fight theft and fraud by providing a permanent record of transactions on valuable assets. Everledger has received funding on XSoar – a secondary market exchange running on the blockchain. With Everledger on the job, the Parisian thieves would have had a very difficult time selling Kim Kardashian’s stolen diamond ring, without creating a permanent record of their crime in the blockchain.

The delivery of insurance services will also be transformed by new blockchain models. Edgelogic may be a little ahead of us, but it is a fascinating example of how the Internet of Things – interconnected devices – and the blockchain could work together. Imagine sensors in your home notifying your insurer on your shared blockchain of a house fire or theft. The insurer could automatically begin an appraisal of the damage, possibly remotely through smart sensors, and then transfer the money for repairs or article replacement, conceivably within hours.

3. Investing

The Australian Securities Exchange ASX is promising instant gratification over the blockchain. The ASX says it can execute securities trades in milliseconds over the blockchain. With no need for traditional front-to-back office operations, traders could conceivably go to the bank a few seconds after completing a trade and withdraw their trading gains from an ATM, says ASX.

The ability to disintermediate the broker will make securities buying more efficient and cheaper, and reduce broker fraud

The Korean Stock Exchange is readying to trade over-the-counter securities over the blockchain. Securities settlements take place among central registries and many brokers who do not always agree on who the owners are. Investors using a blockchain can follow the chain of ownership themselves.

In January the Nasdaq exchange in Estonia ran a test to conduct shareholder voting over a blockchain. This would finally achieve the elusive goal of Of making the voting process transparent. As the United States starts to prosecute people for voting irregularities in the US presidential election – including illegal voters and double counting – the power of a fully transparent voting system is evident. Neighbors could tell on neighbors voting illegally or more than once.

4. Mortgages

It is the moving nightmare everyone wants to avoid – you cannot get the keys to your new house because of a delay in your funds clearing. The movers are charging you an hourly fee for the furniture in their truck. You, the children, dog and two cats are in a motel waiting to get access to your new home.

Real estate completion risk creates a high level of stress for all parties in the transaction. Buyers, sellers, real estate brokers, lenders and solicitors all shuffle paper back and forth in a mortgage transaction. Business consultancy PwC sees a more efficient real estate settlement flow for its clients. If all these parties were on a blockchain, all transactions could be executed instantaneously and monitored by all parties. No more waiting for funds to clear for the sale because the lawyer is in Florida on a two-day golf trip.

HSBC is testing a system to value properties over the blockchain. Transparent pricing could make it more difficult to inflate real estate prices.

5. Wealth Management

The ambitious blockchain is going after the higher net worth banking business, too. Crypto wealth management platforms such as eStakeX could one day replace wealth advisors.
What will the replacement of a centralized broker account mean to you? Lower costs, more efficient services, and fraud detection and prevention. Let’s say a dishonest broker wants to take several thousand dollars from your investment account by understating a gain on an investment. Each security you trade in, and all related buy and sell transactions, are now performed on a blockchain. The thief will have to get permission from you and everyone else on the blockchain to lower your gain on the transaction.

6. Investment Banking

Overstock.com is the first company to do an initial public offering over blockchain technology, distributing 126,000 shares in December 2016. Regulation has not yet caught up with blockchain technology, however. To comply with financial regulation, Overstock.com had to funnel its transactions through brokers and other traditional middlemen. Nasdaq has issued pre-IPO shares on its blockchain platform called Linq.

ICONOMI, another cryptocurrency, has launched a fund management platform. After its funding period closed in September 2016, the company distributed 100,000 million in its cryptocurrency to its crowdfunding investors. In exchange, investors can invest in digital assets representing a cross-section of the new economy when the platform goes live in 2017. The value of the cryptocurrency has been steadily climbing since the end of last year.

Crowdfunded OpenLedger is one of many exchanges cropping up to specialize in trading cryptocurrencies.

7. Loyalty Programs

Canadian bank RBC is working on a safer blockchain system for reward and loyalty programs.
The gamification of the economy means more rewards, perks and loyalty points for everything from air travel to filling out a bank form. No one can provide an exact number of how big rewards fraud is because most people pay little attention to their rewards accounts.
Many companies are even unaware they are being defrauded for millions of dollars before a rewards audit is performed. You may already have been a victim of this fraud. A store clerk swipes her card instead of yours each time you make a purchase in her store. She then goes to another store branch to make purchases with her ill-gotten rewards. A blockchain would have revealed the high number of rewards going to the employee’s card.

8. Investment Forecasting

Could the blockchain one day replace investment analysts? The madness of crowds has been blamed for every major market crash. But what if you could leverage the “wisdom of crowds to improve forecasts? Investment forecasting meets swarm intelligence.

Augur, which took in over $5 million on crowdfunding platforms is out to prove that collective intelligence makes better predictions than individuals. Is Google stock going up or down? The prediction markets use the blockchain’s decentralized, distributed computing networks to bring many investors together to vote. For now, the forecaster sells virtual shares in the outcome of real world events, such as who will win the World Series, the Oscar or presidential election. Soon, these crowd analysts could be predicting stock prices.

Wings uses swarm intelligence to conduct due diligence and vote on blockchain projects funded through crowdfunding. Community members collectively decide on and forecast the viability of projects. A project is reviewed, improved upon and approved by the collective intelligence of its over 17,000 community members before it can start crowdfunding.

Massive, open-sourced online investing democracies are a good anecdote to the rise of the passive, centrally controlling robo-advisor.

What’s next? Projects raising crowdfunding include community consensus derived credit ratings by Ofyz.

9. Crowdfunding

Wings is an example of the trend towards using blockchain technology to host decentralized crowdfunding services, whilst bringing more money to blockchain development, as well as other projects. The administration of these sites is low and less costly than traditional fundraising since blockchain technology is used to administer the payments, and can directly send investments to the company founders.

New funding models are developing, making it easier for anyone to finance blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies

If you have tried to download the Bitcoin Blockchain to pay for a service – 100 gigabytes and growing – you may long for the bricks-and-mortars days when you could simply whip out your wallet. Digital wallets using the blockchain have a major shortcoming – the time to download these huge and growing digital transaction ledgers. Remember, each time someone uses Bitcoin they are added to the ledger. For smaller universes of transactions, such as a mortgage deal or even a couple thousand pre-IPO investors, the ledger would be manageable.

The Waves Platform accesses BlockChain information through public Waves nodes, instead of downloading, and can also facilitate address creation

Most users will use these apps in the same way they do online banking or process payments through PayPal and be oblivious to the technology behind them. If they do, however, run into fraud in a financial transaction, they will have the entire transparent record of transactions on the blockchain to back them up.

How more efficient can the blockchain be? Hyperledger, a digital ledger system being supported by banks, says it can do thousands of transactions a second. Its funding has come from mainstream blue chip banks, who are now signing up to develop, finance and use the ultra-secure digital ledger system in the delivery of financial services to compete with the smart first-movers in this article.

The biggest challenges for the blockchain are regulatory compliance and integration with existing centralized technology and databases. The regulations preventing Overstock.com from foregoing traditional brokers for its IPO have been an exception rather than a rule, but as the blockchain moves into securities trading and settlement, and wealth management more regulatory hurdles may be ahead.

Over 40 major global banks have joined blockchain startups Digital Asset Holdings and R3 to collaborate on blockchain technology and integration issues. They have already begun operationalizing front-to-back office banking services through trials on the blockchain. The over $50 million Digital Asset raised by banks in January 2016 is a testimony to their confidence in a future for the blockchain in financial operations and services.

The post 9 Crowdfunded Blockchain Trends Replacing Your Banking Services in 2017 appeared first on ChipIn.

Blockchain Crowdfunding

The backing of the big banks as both users and investors has raised blockchain’s profile from a scrappy startup industry to a major investment theme. Crypto-developers and hackers who have relished their mystique are now surfacing from their murky world for the backing of the mainstream financial industry – in hard currency. Cryptocurrencies led by Bitcoin and blockchain technology have raised over 1 billion dollars in private equity capital so far. Non-traditional investors led by crowdfunders love the cryptic play. But crowdfunding is also going mainstream. It is now the largest private equity asset class, representing 21 percent of all equity investments in the UK in 2016, according to Beauhurts’ Deal 2016 report.

5 Big #Blockchain Investment Trends Launched on #Crowdfunding
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Crowdfunders have sunk more money into blockchain technology than any other sector in their universe. As blockchain technology matures, more investment opportunities are arising in all stages of startup funding – from crowdfunding through to an IPO. Increasingly these opportunities are available on platforms leveraging blockchain technology to support decentralized investing, including democratic investment perks such as performing crowd due diligence and making stock recommendations with your peers. And, yes, soon there will be an app for that.

5 Big Blockchain Investment Trends Launched on Crowdfunding

1. The Blockchain

Ethereum based in Switzerland is a blockchain leader and cryptocurrency developer now seeking some greenback to expand its platform. Vitalik Buterin incubated his ideas leading to his crypto-currency ether and its platform at Canada’s University of Waterloo – incidentally, not far from the world class Perimeter Institute where real world physics including Nobel laureate Stephen Hawking study the effect of a different kind of ether on galactic stars.

Ethereum has the distinction of raising the biggest crowdfunding round in history for its open source blockchain technology, rounding up a dizzying $6 million through crowdfunding in two months in the summer of 2014.

The essence of blockchains is they allow transactions to be processed on a network of computers rather than one centralized computer

2. Financial Services Disintermediation

In addition to smart contracts and crypto currencies, the more Turing secure distributed computing platform can host many other virtual services.

This ironclad security is allowing some serious disintermediation to traditional financial services to take place. Crowdfunded opportunities include community consensus derived credit ratings developed by Ofyz. The use of blockchain tech to sell insurance is expected to be a future growth market. France’s inSpeer, an innovative platform crowdfunding insurance policies for electric cars, provides a peek into the future.

The use of blockchain tech to sell insurance is expected to be a future growth market

ICONOMI, another cryptocurrency has launched a fund management platform. After its funding period closed in September 2016, the company distributed 100,000 million in its cryptocurrency to its crowdfunding investors. In exchange, investors can invest in digital assets representing a cross-section of the new economy when the platform goes live in 2017. The value of the crypto currency has been steadily climbing since the end of last year. Crowdfunded OpenLedger is one of many exchanges cropping up to specialize in trading cryptocurrencies.

3. BlockChain Hosted Financial Services Operations

The serious money is going to the non-sexy technologies supporting the migration of the mainstream financial services industry onto blockchain platforms. An encrypted Bitcoin time stamping tool sign.HTML is but one example.

Over 40 banks have crowded around two blockchain groups, R3 and Digital Assets Groups, signifying not only their interest in blockchain as an investment opportunity but also a technology that will underly their own virtual transactions. All participating banks are researching and/or using blockchain technologies in their operations. These groups have also become acquisitive buyers of blockchain startups, including Bitcoin server developer Bits of Proof and digital rights and obligations developer Elevance.

Digital Asset has signed numerous contracts with its member banks to facilitate and develop financial services over blockchain infrastructure. Supporters also include major exchanges, which are using the technology to greatly enhance efficiency and the speed of trade execution, clearing, and settlement. Digital Asset has signed contracts in equities trading and clearing, repo clearing, fundraising, and operations management. The NASDAQ and ASX exchanges are already using the technology. Based on its most recent fundraising round, the company is valued at about $100 million. Could an IPO be far off?

R3, with the backing of over 40 banks, is also involved in the development of distributed ledger technologies and related blockchain applications. It also has a venture capital arm investing in these technologies. The group is led by the former CEO of the major financial exchange ICAP, and is widely expected to target exchanges, among other financial sectors.

Most of the banks have backed Hyperledger as a promising distributed ledger system for the financial services industry. Its Fabric is analogous to a blockchain operating system, on which the industry can develop applications and other solutions. The open source project is hosted by the Linux Foundation and led by an industry leader, Executive Director Brian Behlendorf who developed the first web server, the open source Apache Web Server.

4. Investment Forecasting With Swarm Intelligence

How far can blockchain technology go towards the disintermediation of financial services? Could it one day replace investment analysts? The madness of crowds has been blamed for every major market crash. But what if you could leverage the “wisdom of crowds’ to improve forecasts?

Augur is out to prove that collective intelligence makes better predictions than individuals.
The company runs decentralized prediction markets, using the blockchain’s decentralized, distributed computing networks to bring many investors together. The forecaster sells virtual shares in the outcome of real world events, ranging from who will win the World Series, the Oscar or presidential election.

If smarter human forecasting can improve forecasts, it could even upset the $6 trillion passive investment industry

If smarter human forecasting can improve forecasts, it could even upset the $6 trillion passive investment industry. The challenge may be convincing the peer-to-peer network that it is worth pooling its collective wisdom to forecast the stock price of the biotech play you want to invest in.

5. BlockChain Crowdfunding Platforms

Wings is an example of the trend towards using blockchain technology to host decentralized crowdfunding services, whilst bringing more money to its own development, as well as other projects. The administration of these sites is low and less costly than traditional fundraising since blockchain technology is used to administer the payments, and can directly send investments to the company founders. The Wings’ platform has raised about $1.5 million in Bitcoin fundraising to date.

New funding models are developing, making it easier for anyone to finance blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies. SatoshiPay allows investors to make ongoing monthly contributions to companies in the Bitcoin ecosystem. The nano-payments system, named after the elusive founder of Bitcoin Satoshi Nakamoto, only accepts funding in Bitcoins.

Not all blockchain technology has proven to be impermeable. The Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) – a venture capital firm allowing all investors to vote on what to invest in – raised $160 million, substantially over its $500,000 target, in 2016. Soon after, the company was hacked and one-third of its cryptocurrency, either, with a value of $50 million stolen. The company is stateless and therefore has no regulators. An advantage of self-regulation was the company could separate into two separate cryptocurrencies, after the community debated various proposals, and continue in business.

This massive open online investing democracy is a good anecdote to a rise of the passive, centrally controlling robo-advisor. Senior advisors do help screen and manage the investments.

A shortcoming of blockchain technology is it can purportedly take hours to download the blockchain to your computer. The Waves Platform is investing in the development of a decentralized Lite blockchain client. The Waves Platform facilitates crowdfunding on its blockchain, as well as digital trading, voting and portfolio management. The Lite client accesses BlockChain information through public Waves nodes, instead of downloading it, and can also facilitate address creation, signing and verification to complete the transaction.

The development of blockchain apps – led by companies such as Waves and Lisk, the top Crowdfunded project in Germany at $11.6 million – is the next natural evolution for adherents who are trading, managing investment portfolios, and forecasting across decentralized technology such as mobile phones and tablets. Stratis raised $100,000 in an initial coin offering (ICO) for its enterprise-level technology aimed at making the development of blockchain apps faster.

The Waves Platform facilitates crowdfunding on its blockchain, as well as digital trading, voting and portfolio management.

After crowdfunding, the next step on the blockchain’s financing journey is early stage expansion capital before an IPO to attract even larger stacks of money, in the major currencies. Many private investment funds are emerging with a focus on providing early stage financing to the blockchain space, such as Coinsilium, Kryptonite 1 and Huiyin Blockchain Venture. Technologies focused on include payment gateways, exchanges, casinos, and data management and security. Coinsilium (COIN), a blockchain technology and development company, is the first blockchain company to do an initial public offering. The company’s IPO on London Nex Exchange Growth Market raised $1 million.

The irony is not lost on a technology developed to host cryptocurrencies to unseat the traditional financial services industry quickly becoming the virtual platform upon which the bricks-and-mortars financial industry will operate.

As blockchain technology use increases and, dare we say, moves towards becoming the mainstream digital distributed ledger technology it will grow as a major investment theme.

The post 5 Big Blockchain Investment Trends Launched on Crowdfunding appeared first on ChipIn.

What’s so innovative in this, you ask? Well, Tapdo is a button. That’s it, a single button, reminiscent of Apple’s design of the home button on iDevices. So how can Tapdo do all these things?

Tapdo connects to your phone via Bluetooth and then scans your fingerprints. The button is able to scan the prints of different parts of your fingers, and can even detect the orientation of your print in order to assign different actions for every orientation.

In order to actually assign actions to the button, you need to download the official Tapdo companion app, connect your phone to your Tapdo gadget, then scan the part of your finger you want to assign an action to, and then choose the action you want to be assigned. Using the app is extremely intuitive, as is the initial setup, so it’s very unlikely that anyone will get a headache from setting their Tapdo up.

So far, Tapdo has seen the light of day at Mobile World Congress 2017 and the Wearable Technology Show 2017, where the team behind the ambitious little gadget was present in order to convince people of the usefulness and simplicity that their project offers. If you really wanted to give it a try personally, you’ll be able to do so in Hannover, on March 20-24, at the CeBIT event.

One crucial detail about Tapdo is that you can’t buy it…yet. In fact, it doesn’t even have its own Kickstarter page yet. While the official website promises that a Kickstarter page will be up on March 28 and that the early-bird backers will get their Tapdo sets in September 2017, it remains to be seen whether the team can fulfill these promises. Supposedly, early-bird backers will receive their Tapdo devices along with a battery and a useful wristband for taking your Tapdo everywhere you go. This should also be the package everyone receives upon purchasing a Tapdo, but nothing is confirmed yet. If you are eager to get your hands on one, you can always subscribe to their newsletter in order to receive news and be the first to find out when the Kickstarter campaign will be released.

Starting at $99 on its Kickstarter campaign, the price may be a bit too high for what you get, but one thing is clear: Tapdo is perhaps the most simple, yet innovative and versatile smart device designed in the last few years. It’s the kind of genius idea that makes people think “I could’ve come up with it too”, but then makes them realize that somebody did it first. Whether Tapdo is a commercial success or a failure, it certainly serves as an inspiration to wannabe inventors and shows us that simplicity can go a long way.

The post Tapdo: The Button That Does Everything – Launching soon on Kickstarter appeared first on ChipIn.

Bisecu is the world’s lightest and first fully automated smart bicycle lock. At only 1/4 weight of the widely used U-lock, Bisecu is completely keyless by using patent pending bluetooth technology. Because the smart lock is securely installed on the bicycle, there is no need to carry or use a heavy conventional lock. Simply approach the bike, and leave the bike- the front wheel will lock itself. Bisecu also has an additional security feature that sounds a loud alarm and notifies the owner in the case of theft. Bisecu also provides cycling data such as distance, speed, and calories burned.

Bisecu Kickstarter Campaign launching in Q2 2017 – More information soon

Locking and unlocking your bike, lugging around a clunky piece of metal, searching for your keys, all of these actions take away from the riding experience. Bisecu Inc. is excited to announce Bisecu, a new smart hardware accessory for your bike. Bisecu is the lightest, most securest smart bicycle lock – a beautiful blend of advanced technology and design. Bisecu’s features: smartphone distance based automatic unlocking and locking, a design that prevents the lock from being cut, and a real time speedometer. Bisecu turns your bicycle into a smart transportation device.

-Automatic lock: Bisecu’s smartphone recognition instantly knows when you’ve approached your bike and automatically unlocks. When you leave your bike, it locks on its own. No more searching for the keys, stooping over to unlock, or carrying around a heavy piece of metal. Just approach your bike and ride. Forget about the lock and enjoy your ride.
-Secure design: Don’t worry about your bike being stolen. Bisecu’s unique design means that the lock cannot be cut. Most bicycle thefts occur after the lock has been cut and the bicycle is ridden off. There is also an added level of security. Bisecu sensors trigger a 100db alarm and send a notification via its mobile app in the case of tampering and foul play.
-Real time data: Bisecu turns your smartphone into a display and becomes a cycling computer that provides data on distance travelled, speed, and slope. Bisecu remains attached to the wheel and measures the number of wheel turns. Therefore, it is able to deliver riding data with precision. You can track your rides more easily with Bisecu.

-World’s lightest smart lock: Bisecu weighs 350g (or 0.77lbs), half of weight of the existing smart bike lock, and ¼ of the conventional U-lock. But the weight does not matter so much because you no longer have to carry around the lock- Bisecu stays attached to the wheel. A lock should not slow you down.
-Lasting power: Under normal use, Bisecu does not need to be recharged for 6 months. Bisecu’s long-lasting lithium polymer battery can be recharged on any USB port in under 2 hours.
-Quality materials: Bisecu has an aluminum alloy body and a black or silver finish. Bisecu has been tested for sustainability, such as weather conditions, extreme downward force, and attempted sawing.
-Compatibility: Bisecu is compatible with most standard bikes such as road, hybrid, mini velo, and pixie bikes. Compatibility with Garmin and the Strava apps will be released in the future.
-Military grade encryption: Bisecu uses AES 128 bit encryption to ensure that the lock cannot be hacked.

Three engineering students in Korea came together because they were frustrated with their riding experience. They founded Bisecu Inc in 2016 with one mission: better the bicycling experience by stripping away the nuisances in bike riding. Backed by Korean VC Futureplay, it is a brewing startup preparing its Kickstarter launch in Q2 2017.

It’s first product, Bisecu, aims to get rid of the most negative part of the riding experience- locking and unlocking your bike. It allows users to even forget that the lock is even there. The fully automatic lock eliminates the need to carry around a clunky piece of metal, eliminates the hassle of searching for a key, and also delivers precision riding data in real time. Keyless entry can be triggered when the user approaches the bike, and Bisecu locks automatically when the user leaves the bike. Bisecu’s unique design ensures that the lock cannot be cut and the bicycle ridden off. This is how most bike thefts occur. It is the lightest smart bicycle lock by a large margin (weighing only 350g which is ¼ of the U-lock). The lock stays on the bicycle front wheel and provides accurate real time cycling data, meaning bicycle riders can save an extra hundred they would spend on a cycling computer.

It is an automatic lock that recognizes your smartphone. No more bending over, looking for your keys, taking away from the riding experience. The keyless entry is seamless- if you approach your bike, it unlocks itself, if you leave your bike, it locks automatically. It takes 0 seconds to unlock your bike. So you can focus on the more important things in life.

Bisecu was designed for security. Most bicycle thefts occur once the lock has been cut. Bisecu reinvents the lock through its design that prevents cutting.
There is also an added level of security. Bisecu sensors trigger a 100db alarm and app notification in the case of tampering and foul play.

Why should the lock slow you down? Bisecu stays attached to the front wheel at all times, but it is also light enough to not slow you down. It is the lightest smart bike lock, weighing only 350g (0.77lbs), which is ¼ of the conventional U-lock.

That’s not all, it’s not just a lock. Bisecu is also a cycling computer that provides data on distance travelled, speed, and slope. Bisecu remains attached to the wheel and measures the number of wheel turns; therefore delivers riding data with precision. You can track your rides more easily with Bisecu. Bisecu automatically recognizes when you are beginning to ride, unlike other products that need to be toggled on. It’s a real time speedometer. By relaying the data to your mobile screen, you can see the stats in real-time. Users do not need to splurge an extra hundred on a speedometer because Bisecu is a lock and cycling computer in one.

.GENERAL

How is Bisecu different from other smart bike locks?
Bisecu is in the shape of a cylinder, meaning it is the only smart bike lock that cannot be cut. It stays on the front wheel of the bike, meaning you no longer need to carry around a clunky lock. The lock also prevents the front wheel from being stolen.
How does Bisecu work?
Bisecu’s proprietary technology involves a locking disc that is installed on the front wheel. It is similar to how doors are locked.
How does Bisecu communicate with my phone?
Bisecu connects to your smartphone using Bluetooth Low Energy. Through the Bisecu app, you can manually lock and unlock Bisecu. By measuring the signal strength of the bluetooth, it unlocks automatically when you approach your bike.
Do I need data connection for Bisecu to work?
You don’t need a data connection for Bisecu to work as a lock. For other functions, you do need a data connection.

.SECURE

How secure is Bisecu?
Bisecu’s design ensures that the locking mechanism cannot be seen from the outside. It also prevents the lock from being cut, which is how most bicycle thefts happen. In the case of tampering or attempted theft, Bisecu’s sensor triggers an alarm that is 100db loud.

Can Bisecu be hacked?
Bisecu is uses AES 128bit military grade encryption and Bluetooth encryption technology.
How strong is the lock?
Other locks are mostly made of steel. The outer casing of Bisecu, on the other hand, is made of aluminum alloy, and can withstand hammering as well. Sawing the lock is difficult and takes much longer, because of its cylinder design.
What material is Bisecu made of?
Bisecu is made of aluminum alloy 6000 series.
Does Bisecu support location tracking?
GPS and location tracking will be available in the next generation.

.COMPATIBILITY/INSTALLATION

Will Bisecu fit my bicycle?
Bisecu is compatible with most bicycles with 9mm QR or standard scew type axles, such as road, hybrid, pixie, and mini velos. However, it is not compatible with MTBs or other bicycles with disc brakes.
What phones are supported?
Bisecu is compatible with iOS 8+ and Android 4.4 and above, and devices supporting Bluetooth 4.0.
Is it difficult to install Bisecu on my bicycle?
Installing Bisecu takes about 10 minutes. You remove the front wheel, install the disc and the Bisecu device. If you have a basket or other accessories attached to the front axle, it must be removed.

.WEIGHT

How heavy is Bisecu?
Bisecu is the world’s lightest smart bike lock. It weighs only 350g. The lightest smart bike lock so far weighs over 500g. A conventional bike lock such as the U-lock weighs over 1kg, averaging at 1.5kg. Bisecu is less than ¼ of this weight.
How big is Bisecu?
Bisecu fits in the palm of your hand, with specific size being 85mm*100mm*85mm.

.BATTERY

How long does the battery last?
Battery life lasts for 6 months under normal use.
How do I charge Bisecu?
Bisecu can be recharged using its micro-USB port.
What type of battery is used in Bisecu?
Bisecu uses a lithium polymer battery.
How do I know if I need to charge Bisecu?
When battery life reaches less than 20%, the app send you a notification as a reminder to charge Bisecu.
What happens if the Bisecu battery dies and my bike is still locked?
You have to recharge Bisecu first, by using a portable battery pack.

.WARRANTY/REPAIR

How long is the warranty for Bisecu?
Bisecu comes with a 1 year warranty.
What happens if Bisecu breaks or malfunctions?
Bisecu comes with a 1 year warranty. The repair policies will differ from country to country and the local retailer.
Can I leave Bisecu out in the rain?
Yes. Bisecu is weather resistant and can withstand rain and the cold. However, we strongly advise that you don’t take Bisecu for a swim.

.PHONELESS ACCESS

What happens if my phone battery dies?
You can use your a preset password and unlock the device manually using its exterior button.
What happens if I lose my phone?
You can use your a preset password and unlock the device manually using its exterior button.

.THEFT/TAMPER ALERT

How loud is the alarm?
Using its sensors, Bisecu triggers a 100db in the case of attempted theft and sends an app notification.

.COLOR/DESIGN

What colors are Bisecu available in?
Bisecu comes in black and silver. We would like to add colors to Bisecu depending on popular demand.

Bisecu will be coming to Kickstarter in the second quarter of 2017.

The post Bisecu Smart Bicycle Lock – Smart Bike Lock appeared first on ChipIn.

More about the game: Mass Effect 3

Mass Effect games are based on player choice, such that how your ME3 story goes depends on how you played the previous games. While ME3 provided different ending options for players, each option resulted in a similar story space, making the choices irrelevant.

How to address the problem 1: Retake ME3 Cupcake Campaign

The Cupcake campaign was a drive setup to send BioWare 402 cupcakes divided into three equal parts of green, blue, and red frost for the cupcakes. Despite the varieties, all the cupcakes tasted the same – Vanilla. This was a way for the gamers to express their dissatisfaction with the deceptive ending of the ME3 game, but in a sweet way to show that they still loved the games and were true fans and supporters.

The idea was proposed by a girl to make different types of donuts that taste the same, but to have greater visual variety, they proposed cupcakes that would have different frost colors with the letters A, B, and C on them. Sam, the organizer of the ME3 campaign, paid for the cupcakes out-of-pocket and then set up a crowdfunding drive on Chip In to recover the money.

In 30 minutes, the drive had raised over $1,100 for an expenditure of just over $1,000. So the crowdfunding campaign was stopped and the extra amount donated to a children’s charity.

How to address the problem 2: Retake Mass Effect Child’s Play

To begin with, Retake Mass Effect Child’s Play was a campaign set up on Chip In to raise $80,000 for a charity called Penny Arcade Child’s Play.

After a very helpful comment, we have updated this page:

Got some facts wrong man, first off it’s wasn’t set to raise $80,000 dollars, people hoped it was was a few hundred at best. People went nuts when they broke $100 $500…and it just didn’t stop. Eventually it reached $10,000 and shortly after it reached that mark someone donated $10,000 anonymously though many suspect Bioware or one of the voice actors involved in the project. I know Raphael Sbarge (Kaidan Alenko) and Kimberly Brooks (Ashley Williams) both retweeted their support of the donations (twas my tweets they retweeted), also Jessica Merizan one of Bioware Community Managers at the time retweeted the link and praised the results.

An insignificant number of people were confused, even if one tenth of the donations were refunded it would still have been an amount of money raised that was more than 1% of Child’s Play total fundraising for the previous year from all sources (I researched their financial reports to provide such encouraging statistics during the fundraiser)

However, a good number of the people who contributed to the cause thought that the funds would be used to change the ending of the ME3 game – and not support the charity – which raised quite a bit of confusion. Since the supporters were not sure what they were contributing to (a charity or game), they decided to get their money back.

The post Retake Mass Effect Childs Play – Crowdfunding Campaign appeared first on ChipIn.

Each of these projects is remarkable in their own way, having successfully captured the imaginations of thousands and setting the standard for what great crowdfunding ideas are.

Yet, these projects they barely scrape the surface of innovation made in 2016. And just two months into the year, 2017 promises to be no different. With crowdfunding news and products continuing to pop up in mainstream conversation, you can say the power of the crowd has truly been unlocked.

From voice to virtual reality, here are five trends you need to keep an eye out for in the rest of 2017.

Top 6 Crowdfunding Trends for 2017

1. Voice-User Interfaces

Voice user interfaces are positioned as the next big thing in technology

While not a crowdfunded product, Amazon’s Echo maintained an impressive influence on the technology industry throughout 2016 with its innovative voice-user interface. Consumers adored its ease-of-use and ever-expanding utility while tech insiders fawned over how it pushed voice into territories it hadn’t been before. That influence was felt in the crowdfunding world as well through the many voice-controlled smart home systems and other devices that made waves.

With voice user interfaces positioned as the next big thing in technology in the same vein as the smartphone and artificial intelligence, there is no doubt voice will be integrated into a variety of different crowdfunded products going forward. A good example is L.U.C.Y., which goes the simple route of adding a massive touchscreen to everything that’s appealing about the Echo and building on top of its success.

Lucy adds a massive touchscreen to everything that’s appealing about the Echo

At the other end of the spectrum are products like the Senstone and Kai. The former is a wearable voice recorder powered by a user’s voice in conjunction with artificial intelligence to automatically organize and sync recorded thoughts to the cloud with just a tap.

The latter is a small attachment to any pair of glasses that adds a voice user interface that can facilitate calls, texts, and even Uber requests. While both use voice in different ways, what they have in common is a tiny form factor and the ability to integrate voice into everyday life, a combination which will be seen more of as 2017 continues to roll on.

2. Wireless Audio

It’s obvious wireless is the future judging from the constant innovation in the wireless audio space to Apple’s controversial removal of the headphone jack with last year’s iPhone 7. As such, wire hatred is a trend with its roots in 2016 that will ripple into 2017 as more companies explore everything possible.

The Vinci smart headphones are a great example of where wireless audio is going in 2017, combining artificial intelligence for a customized listening experience along with a touchscreen and voice capabilities for 21st-century control. What’s most important about Vinci, though, is its ability to transmit Hi-Fi quality audio over Bluetooth for the very best sound quality, a dream that has long been in the making for many consumers.

Vinci transmits Hi-Fi quality audio over Bluetooth for the very best sound quality,

While products like Vinci will take care of delivering Hi-Fi audio on the move, the HUB and ONEclassic do the same but in the home. While consumers expect Hi-Fi audio systems to be astronomically priced, these two products bring what are traditionally expensive purchases down to a manageable level.

The HUB streams Hi-Fi audio to any pair of headphones in the home, a perfect complement to the 4K televisions now found in many homes. The ONEclassic, on the other hand, is an attractively designed in-home speaker system boasting the type of premium audio quality found in systems many thousands of dollars more expensive. The result is a revolution in wireless audio that’s just getting started.

3. Gamification

The concept of gamification is a firm rejection of all the criticism video gaming has endured for decades. Key to the idea is the integration of fun to otherwise mundane, boring, or difficult tasks to make them hard to ignore and even fun to do. This helps create positive habits with far reaching benefits for users.

ti.ttle is a golf trainer that clips onto a golf club and helps calculate the distance and direction of the ball

In 2016, a few standout products incorporated the idea of gamification in both sports and fitness in order to help people improve their game or get fit faster. That trend continues in 2017 with three products signaling what we can expect. The ti.ttle is a golf trainer that clips onto a golf club and helps calculate the distance and direction of a ball after every swing.

By providing instant feedback anywhere, it increases a golfer’s motivation to practice. Similar to the ti.ttle is the ruggedly-designed Strike connected baseball, a tool any pitcher can use to compare different pitches, view activity history, compete with others and even complete achievements for a more gamified experience.

Nothing quite screams gamification, though, than actually playing a game. The Stealth core trainer is the perfect marriage of something most hate — exercise — with something everyone loves — video games. By challenging users to shoot an increasingly complex pattern of asteroids by rotating a balance board in a plank position, Stealth helps people get ripped through the concept of muscle confusion all while essentially distracting them.

Stealth challenges users to shoot an increasingly complex pattern of asteroids by rotating a balance board in a plank position

That’s the beauty of gamification: adding layers of information, fun and interactivity to activities that can otherwise be pretty tedious in the pursuit of positive results. The versatility of the concept means we’ll be seeing a lot more of it in many products throughout 2017.

4. Travel

The future in the travel category is filled with exciting surprises

Since the very beginning, travel has been a hugely popular category in the crowdfunding world precisely because there are an endless number of pain points traditional companies have yet to address. As such, folk everywhere have stepped in and, fueled by their own horrible travel experiences, created some of the most successful products ever to grace the crowdfunding world.

2016 saw a lot of these items gain mainstream recognition, and 2017 will no doubt follow in their trail. We’ve already seen products as varied as the AnyCafè Travel Brewer and the GeeFi Unlimited 4G and Wi-Fi Hotspot get funded and ship, proving how fertile the niche is just two months into the year and pointing towards a future in the travel category filled with exciting surprises.

Surprise overnight successes will no doubt play a role in the travel category narrative going forward. But, as always, established successes will influence future crowdfunding attempts. One example is the Travelmate, a connected piece of luggage inspired by the already successfully funded Bluesmart from 2014 that tracks on auto-follow capabilities. Another is the Sheer, a travel jacket with a cornucopia of features similar to that of the runaway 2015 success BAUBAX.

Whether inventors go for the next big hit or ride the coattails of 2016’s best travel products, there’s a lot to look forward to when it comes to crowdfunded travel products.

Mindfulness
Sence (Smartband)
Lief (Wearable)
WellBe (Smartband)

In this increasingly connected world, more and more people are feeling the stresses of a rapidly changing, modern environment. This creates a flurry of emotional states people have trouble grasping, leading to bigger problems down the road. This is exactly why the trend of mindfulness can be found everywhere: It arms people with the mental tools they weren’t taught so they can better understand themselves in relation to the world and ultimately reduce stress levels. Usually, certain mental and physical techniques are taught achieve this goal.

In 2016, the crowdfunding world sought to augment these more traditional mindfulness techniques with technology that plays a positive role in combating stress versus generating it. Three great examples are the WellBe, the Sence, and the Lief.

5. When two trends collide – Mindfulness meets Crowdfunding

WellBe not only prompts users throughout the day to take breaks, but also offers user personalized playlists of exercises

The WellBe is a combination heart rate monitor and mobile app that determine a wearer’s stress levels over time based on three factors: time, location, and people. By constantly gathering this data, WellBe not only prompts users throughout the day to take breaks but also offers user personalized playlists of exercises and classes guided by WellBe mentors to help control stress levels.

The Sence is similar in that it reads a user’s heart rate and serves up personal feedback to better manage stress but expands on the concept of mindfulness by also understanding 64 emotional states and acting as fitness band for exercise. Lief is the most conceptually interesting of the bunch.

As a wearable patch placed on a user’s torso, Lief tracks and optimizes your resiliency to stress by increasing natural heart rate variability (HRV), a biomarker of physical and psychological health. The device then vibrates when it senses a low HRV score, prompting users to follow along by breathing in sync with the device. After just three minutes, Lief can drastically reduce stress, all the while training users to naturally tap into the body’s own stress-fighting tools.

Lief is a wearable patch placed on a user’s torso that optimizes resiliency to stress

The mindfulness trend will no doubt continue being a popular one in 2017, a classic example of technology creating a problem to be solved with more technology. Only time will tell if the many products positioned to do so in 2017 actually succeed.

6. Virtual Reality

Virtual reality technology has rapidly innovated in many categories, from input to graphical fidelity.

With the unveiling of the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive, 2016 was a watershed year for virtual reality. And while both products experienced a few stumbles, it didn’t mean VR as a whole did. As a matter of fact, virtual reality technology has rapidly innovated in many categories, from input to graphical fidelity. As time passes, this positive change will accelerate, resulting in all manner of new virtual reality hardware and experiences.

New types of experiences to look out for will be those that push the bar even higher in terms of historic significance and novelty. Perfect examples are the Thresholds VR experience that transports users to the first major photography exhibition back in 1839 alongside the Hideaway Circus VR experience, a series of some of the best circus and dance acts located in the United States and Australia.

In the coming year, virtual reality will continue to take us to places we’ve never been and continue to fulfill one of the key promises of the technology.

Hideaway Circus features a series of some of the best circus and dance acts located in the United States and Australia

Another reason why virtual reality is exciting is the potential it has and the clever ways of using it that continue to spring up because of that potential. Case in point: Toronto-based GIMME360°, an apparel company that partners with charities to benefit people around the world.

Every piece of apparel purchased through them contains a RFID chip users can scan to see exactly where their money benefits, bridging the all-important emotional gap and making charity something to be experienced rather than something simply to write a check out for.

Virtual reality is all about bridging gaps, and 2017 will see products just like these continue to impress with how they go about doing that.

The post Top 6 Crowdfunding Trends for 2017 appeared first on ChipIn.

Even when crowdfunding works for an initial startup, and it is in most cases, the investors typically offer no added value other than their pockets in terms of industry or institutional knowledge, which brings up the sore subjects of investment risk and the sustainability of the project. Are crowdfunding investors being taken for a merry ride? And, if so, how long is that ride likely to last?

According to a report by Massolution, the crowdfunding industry worldwide grew by almost 170 percent in 2014 reaching over $16 billion. This was up, astonishingly, from around $6 billion in 2013. VCs have typically invested in the region of $30 billion per year, but crowdfunding raised over $34 billion in 2015.

This new source of financing for small businesses is doubling each year and is estimated to surpass VC in 2016. An authority on the subject, Chance Barnett, CEO of CrowdFunder, defined the total overall crowdfunding market opportunity at over $1 trillion.

Let’s take a look at how crowdfunding has gained such traction, why it appeals to investors and entrepreneurs, and the effect it is having on traditional VCs.

Crowdfunding: Is it a Threat to VCs?

Perhaps the biggest change that crowdfunding has wrought over the financing industry is the ability of the smaller speculator to, well, speculate. On May 16, 2016, Title III of the JOBS Act, or Regulation Crowdfunding or Reg CF, legalized retail investment crowdfunding allowing 300 million potential investors to contribute and invest in the growth of small businesses.

Previously only accredited investors, those who earned an annual income of at least $200,000 (or $300,000 if married), or those with a net worth of at least $1 million could invest in early stage startups. This new regulation marked a dramatic turnabout in traditional lending for business startups.

That’s a lot of new entrants to the startup financing market. So, what is the effect on VCs? How are they reacting to the new kid on the block? Are they threatened by the crowdfunding movement?

According to TechCrunch, the crowd’s wealth is enormous compared to the VC industry, and the injection of new capital into the startup ecosystem could bid up prices and over-capitalize businesses. In that case, VCs’ will not be happy with their returns.

Successful crowdfunding projects will attract investors’ attention creating a competitive process.

VCs also rely on funders, and those accounts might be severely depleted if VC participants who previously entrusted their money with VCs decide to go another route. If entrepreneurs continue to choose to raise money through crowdfunding sites, and their projects are successful, angel investors will have no choice but to follow them.

Successful crowdfunding projects will attract investors’ attention creating a competitive process and increasing the value of those companies. Although angel investors will still back startups, they will do so through crowdfunding platforms.

Some pundits believe that the VC model will become obsolete judging by the increasing number of accelerator programs such as YCombinator. According to Jonathan Lea, a corporate solicitor, if US families devote just 1% of their assets to crowdfunding startups, that would release $300 billion annually making it far easier for small businesses to raise funding without the need for VC.
For now, VCs are assuming a stance of watchful tolerance as savvy startups use a combined approach of angel or VC financing and equity crowdfunding. After all, there are advantages in surveying the landscape before launching an offensive.

Experts believe that VC model will become obsolete judging by the increasing number of accelerator programs such as YCombinator

“VCs can now make earlier stage bets and get to know companies at younger stages via crowdsourced platforms prior to investing larger dollars at later stages,”

said, Hull.

Jan Bednar, CEO of ShipMonk.com, a fulfillment center that serves crowdfunded businesses, also sees similar benefits for VCs. “In a traditional crowdfunding environment — which functions more or less like a presale — VCs have the opportunity to immediately access the addressable market for a product and its desirability. This information fosters more prudent decision making.”

So, VCs are not panicking yet.

How are the investors reacting to crowdfunding? With more choices, investors can only benefit. Because, after all, not all those who wish to invest can do so at the level of VCs. Hull’s perspective is that crowdfunding “represents the democratization of the start-up space for those who don’t have access to the VC world.”

For the investor, there are more options now that smaller investments are possible. An investor can take a calculated risk that is within their budget, experiment in different sectors, and with different entrepreneurs.

Crowdfunding represents the democratization of the start-up space for those who don’t have access to the VC world

Feit has since turned away dozens of companies from his site that were raising many thousands of dollars on other sites from naïve investors. One of the companies was shut down and accused of fraud, but not before it had raised $5 million. What’s more, many of the companies raising money through crowdfunding are not compliant with the basic rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Feit is particularly worried about companies that value themselves at ridiculously high levels, which makes it difficult for investors to ever get their money back. Feit saw many cases where his site rejected companies for this reason but they appeared on other sites with the same valuation.

According to the Association of Corporate Treasurers and a report from Growthdeck, entrepreneurs tend to overvalue their schemes when preparing for crowdfunding rounds. Also, on average, only just over 12% is returned to investors. Investors should consider their stake in the scheme and whether that stake will be further diluted by any future funding rounds.

Growthdeck founder Gary Robins considers that it is incumbent upon crowdfunders to accurately value their schemes and projects.

“Knowing whether an equity stake offers fair value, or if a valuation is sound, can be a challenge for many investors. At these kinds of pricing levels and investment targets, it is particularly vital that crowdfunders can satisfy themselves that a sufficient slide rule has been run over the numbers,” said Robins.

One solution to this problem is regulation and the introduction of industry standards, including factors such as valuations and compliance, that all crowdfunding sites must comply with. However, many crowdfunding sites are not keen to enter into those types of discussions.
Feit said “I’m legitimately concerned that a lot of people are going to be losing money … investing in start-ups is really risky, and it’s very different than buying a used couch. We definitely do not think you should treat it like Craigslist.”

For entrepreneurs, additional sources of financing in the form of crowdfunding have come at a time when they are badly needed. In the first quarter of 2016, VCs sunk $12.1 billion in 969 startups, less than the $13.7 billion raised a year ago in 1,085 deals. The remainder of 2016 was expected to follow the same trajectory and fall short of the $59.7 billion invested in 2015 in 4,497 deals.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty right now about how hard it will be to raise VC money in the future. Most of these companies will run out of cash and shut down if they fail to raise VC financing,” said Luke Taylor of the Wharton School of Management.

This all sounds bleak for entrepreneurs, but for Ron Berman, a professor of marketing at Wharton, the logic is that a slowdown in funding will have a “survival of the fittest” effect on startups. Only the best startups will be funded. Moreover, fewer competitors will mean that capital is spent more efficiently, on tech advancement, for example, rather than marketing and ultimately benefiting the entrepreneur.

For now, the entrepreneur is exploiting both the large returns that they can get from VC financing and the crowdfunding platforms with their proliferous marketing and social media channels. This strategy both saves time and increases their reach.

And this mixed financing seems to be agreeable to all parties, at least for now.

Women and people of color (who currently receive only 4 percent of VC money) are more able to raise capital with crowdsourced options

Hull is a start-up founder. She ran a crowdfunding campaign for her start-up Impact Hub Oakland. She sees many positive impacts from crowdfunding for entrepreneurs such as access to Silicon Valley and other VC networks to raise smaller amounts of money from like-minded investors, often times, from their own communities.

“Women and people of color (who currently receive only 4 percent of VC money) are more able to raise capital with crowdsourced options,” said Hull. “Entrepreneurs are adjusting by being able to look for supportive, less extractive investors.”
And, according to Bednar, “Crowdfunding money and VC money typically come in at different times. Whereas in the past it was often difficult to get the seed money necessary to demonstrate a product’s viability, entrepreneurs can now source seed funds through crowdfunding, thus lowering barriers to entry.”

But if you want the low-down from the entrepreneur’s perspective, Insider paints a rather dire picture in its “founders guide to crowdfunding versus VC,” which recounts the experience of Crowdcube.

Describing crowdfunding as “seriously hard work” that absorbed every evening and weekend, the founders of Crowdcube go on to describe an “emotional rollercoaster” with “a whirlwind of pitches, meetings, emails and phone calls. Every interaction is crucial and hard to delegate, as you don’t know if you’re speaking to a £20 or £200,000 investor.”

But, after all the tumult, there was a happy ending to Crowdcube’s efforts. Crowdcube ultimately closed £2 million in a crowdfunding round in June 2015. Once the project was about 75 percent funded, the founders far surpassed their targets although they don’t pinpoint exactly why.

The founders cite reputational risk as a downside to crowdfunding for the entrepreneur, particularly if there is a lack of transparency with retail investors. Crowdfunding is also an exercise in building a brand, which is less the case with VC funding when pitching to lawyers and boardrooms is more the focus.

Put simply, VC beats crowdfunding if a there is an opportunity to scale, where legitimacy in the form of a board or connections are desired, where an entrepreneur’s network may not be sufficient to raise the required amount, and where there is a need for follow-on projects and fundraising. The expertise that VC firms can provide to an entrepreneur should not be overlooked either because this is an important factor in startup success.

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