Amsterdam-based Unchain.io launches Blockchain integration platform, adds investor

We’ve seen the ups and downs cryptocurrencies had in past few months. Bitcoin’s price zoomed past 8,926 Euros at the end of November last year. It soared more than 1,000 percent since the start of 2017, however, it’s current price hovers around 5800 Euros. Surprisingly, the main technology these cryptocurrencies use is the Blockchain (a distributed online ledger of records) which is on a steady rise. Big corporations, as well as startups, continue to innovate and release new use cases of the technology. Unchain.io, an Amsterdam-based Blockchain startup, recently released early-access to an enterprise Blockchain-integration platform.

The core product is a gateway: computer software which integrates different applications and services that developers can use to connect their existing applications and devices with multiple blockchain networks. Unchain is led by Arjeh van Oijen, a graduate of Eindhoven University of Technology and an alumnus of IBM Global Business Services group. He’s joined by Marcel Makken as a co-founder. An early win for Unchain is the inclusion of Blockchain investor Han de Groot, an early investor in Filecoin that went on to raise €208M during its ICO (a form of crowdfunding used by Blockchain projects).

’Through its blockchain agnostic gateway technology, unchain.io contributes to my vision of a ‘frictionless internet of value’. Blockchain or distributed ledger technologies in general, will enable us to exchange (anything of) value, at the same speed as we’re exchanging information today,” said Han de Groot. 

Early wins in the energy industry

Groot made a successful exit of his company MetrixLab by merging it with MacroMill for €660m. It implies that Unchain’s team now has access to solid funding as well as a good network of connections. The startup recently signed an agreement with Vattenfall, a Swedish power company, wholly owned by the Swedish government to develop a scalable blockchain Proof of Concept for a specific energy industry use-case including sharing of knowledge on blockchain technology.

Unchain also got admitted to the ‘Dutch Central Governments Small Business Innovation Research program’ that it will leverage to compete in the already crowded market f ICOs. Public Early Access to the company’s product is set for July 2018.