Visitors to Pioneers’18 and GovTech.Pioneers in Vienna in May can look forward to meeting a strong contingent of speakers from the Asian continent. Glosfer CEO Taewon Kim, whose company recently raised $14m in a matter of hours in a domestic ICO, will be joining us at our flagship event on May 24th-25th. Meanwhile Executive Advisor to Japan’s CIO Toshiyuki Zamma will feature at GovTech.Pioneers on May 23rd. We also announce our new media partner, Techsauce, a leader in the South East Asian region.
Glosfer is a leading Blockchain company in South Korea, and one of those aiming to maximise the real-world value of cryptocurrency by establishing online/offline exchanges. It aims to contribute to a transparent and fair society based on Blockchain technology by working with public institutions.
Having developed Nowon Cash, a cryptocurrency, which is the first local cryptocurrency in the world, specifically for Nowon-gu, an innovative residential district of the national capital Seoul, Glosfer is continuing to contribute to the practical integration of Blockchain technology in the everyday economy.
Nowon Cash is a new unit of value in an alternative local economy for donations and volunteering. The currency can be used in such places as stores and parking lots. As a use case backed by a true local authority, thanks to the contract between Glosfer and the Nowon-gu office, it has significance that will attract plenty of interest from the international crypto and Blockchain community.
At Pioneers’18, Taewon Kim will deliver a talk and demonstration of Nowon Cash technology in action. To add to the fun he will do so in Korean, with real-time translation making it possible for those lucky enough to be at the Hofburg to gain some exclusive insights behind the language barrier.
"Nowon Cash is a good case that combines Blockchain technology, which provides transparency, with social values, into an actual business,” says Kim. “We will continue to commit ourselves to applying blockchain technology to projects for institutions that require transparency including the government and NGOs."
Last year Glosfer also made headlines by raising around $14m in just eight hours at their Initial Coin Offering, for their HYCON cryptocurrency. Considering this ICO was open to the domestic Korean market only, it was a strong indication of interest ahead of the global ICO set to follow this Friday.
HYCON is set to be the basis for the company’s Infinity Project. This shows another way in which Glosfer is working to bring cryptocurrency into everyday life, as Kim explained after the initial ICO.
"The overwhelming support is the reflection of high expectations for our Infinity project, which aims to use cryptocurrency in the real economy. People showed great interest in our projects of applying Blockchain technology in real businesses."
Meanwhile another speaker from East Asia will be present at GovTech.Pioneers, which takes place the day before Pioneers’18. Toshiyuki Zamma will represent the continent in the competitive ‘Europe versus Asia’ discussion on the main stage. Zamma has been Executive Advisor to the Chief Information Officer of the Japanese Government since 2012.
He will face up against Andrea Servida, who will represent Europe in his capacity as Head of the eGovernment and Trust Unit in the European Commission’s DG CONNECT.
In yet another link to Asia, Pioneers’18 also welcomes its latest media partner, Techsauce, which is the leading source of all tech and business news in Thailand and Southeast Asia. Techsauce Global Summit is one of the best SEA Conferences where tech experts gather.
And in a great piece of news for those startups applying for our Pioneers500 program, one of the prizes for winning the Pioneers Challenge Award will be a trip to the Techsauce Global Summit 2018 in Bangkok. This will include flights and accommodation for one person, plus a booth and pitching slot at the event!
Speaking about Thailand, we are also happy to announce that the National Innovation Agency of Thailand will also join us at Pioneers’18 with 8 stellar startups flying in from Asia and showcasing what the country has to offer. More information on their integration and on the new, massive startup initiatives the country is running with a focus on deep tech-solutions will follow soon.
Buy tickets for Pioneers’18 here. Due to the great demand from our community and the ‘work hard, feast hard’ mentality we saw over this Easter weekend, we’ve extended the deadline for startups to apply here by one week. Deadline ends April 7th!
