Group 5 Advisory Speaks at Visa Middle East
Just last week, Bunty Agarwal, Managing Partner at Group 5 Advisory, presented blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies, ICOs, and industry trends to product and marketing managers at Visa’s [...]
Exploring tomorrow’s digital economy, today.
Blockchain Technology
A blockchain is a decentralized database, where the users of the database come to consensus about what the database contains. Blockchain technology was first envisioned in the 2008 whitepaper for Bitcoin. Since then, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have experienced wide-scale use and has a market capitalization of over $200 billion today.
The full history of transactions and records are constantly maintained and updated in blockchains. Multiple users can write entries into the record of information and the community of users controls how that information is updated. If the data being stored on the blockchain is arbitrary code, this creates a global, distributed computer. The Ethereum blockchain, for example, has the capacity to store arbitrary code. The programs written on the Ethereum blockchain are called smart contracts and allow for the creation of fully decentralized applications.
A distributed database created on a blockchain allows for multiple nodes to access the database simultaneously. Each node within the network can independently update the database and see the changes everyone is making simultaneously. To illustrate blockchain technology, think of Google Documents.
Traditionally, updating a document between two different people meant that one person edited it first, then sent it to the second person to edit it again. The second person was locked out of the document because it was impossible for two people to edit the same document on two different computers at the same time. With Google Documents, however, multiple people can access and edit the same document at the same time. This is effectively how blockchain technology works today.
In the last seven years, blockchains and the various technologies and codes stored on them have formed the basis of creating multiple cryptocurrencies. These units are pieces of blockchains and are considered as currencies. They have value in the market and can be used as a medium of exchange.
What is a Cryptocurrency?
A cryptocurrency is exactly like a medium of exchange such as any fiat currency. However, they are designed to exchange digital information using the principles of cryptography. Cryptocurrencies are generally decentralized and their values cannot be controlled like they are for fiat currencies. Most cryptocurrencies are designed so that there is a limit as to how many coins or tokens are available on the market. This allows each currency to have a defined market capitalization.
Raising Money Through an Initial Coin Offering
An Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is a new form of crowdfunding which can be used to raise capital for start-up or early stage ventures. In an ICO, the company issues a cryptocurrency which is sold to investors in exchange for fiat currency or already established cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum.
ICOs were introduced to the digital economy in 2013 with the Mastercoin token sale. Since then, the industry has evolved to an extent where there are more than 700 ICOs held in a year.
ICOs and token sales fall under a legal grey area. With the exception of a few governments such as China and Japan, no others have any formal legislation in place to regulate cryptocurrencies. The lack of regulation has allowed for ICOs to quickly become a popular and more efficient way to raise capital for early stage companies. However, there have also been cases where investors have been defrauded solely because of the lack of a formal regulatory body. Despite this, however, ICOs remain a popular option for companies and investors alike.
Why Choose Group 5 Advisory?
While the industry is mostly unregulated, Group 5 Advisory believes that blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies represent the future for projects and in how they are financed. It is precisely due to the lack of formal regulations that companies and projects must take a strategic approach and a macro-view in raising capital through an ICO. They must also realise the potential implications of doing so. This is where Group 5’s industry and overall business experience adds tremendous value. We understand due diligence and compliance, two of the most important issues that must be addressed prior to any kind of capital raise in the crypto economy.
Group 5 Advisory has a multi-disciplinary team of cryptocurrency experts with over four decades of experience in strategy, business development, management, and financial and corporate advisory. Our managing partners have been heavily involved in the crypto economy for several years as enthusiasts and as active investors. We have wide experience in the industry and have developed significant relationships with notable industry figures. Individually and as a group, we have an established track record within the industry and are known to provide unique solutions. We work hand-in-hand with our clients and cater our services to find the best solutions for each individual requirement.
What We Do
If you are interested in blockchain integration or cryptocurrencies, Group 5 Advisory can help you achieve your goals. We offer the following consultancy and advisory services to our clients:
Capital Management
We manage capital raising through ICOs and private placements from beginning to financial close. Starting from ideation, we can run and manage all aspects of your project through to the launch of the ICO and beyond.
Business Planning
We evaluate, refine, and create business plans, models, executive summaries, prospectuses, and whitepapers. We make sure that your documentation is comprehensive, understandable, and relatable to your business model.
Token Creation
Group 5 can create relevant and appropriate tokens and their corresponding sale structures. We design tokens that create value for the project, investors, and users. Our goal is to ensure that the project’s ecosystem can sustain your tokens for the long-term.
Public Relations
We help manage public relations, investor relations, and social media marketing. Our social media campaigns are designed to have maximum impact in cryptocurrency communities. We use our networks to connect you to appropriate audiences and to build up a community dedicated to your projects.
Project & Business Management
Using our vast experience, we are able to directly manage and provide operational support for your business. With our extensive network of industry contacts, we can leverage our corporate and educational connections to provide you with expertise in virtually any field so that we can make your project a success.
Legal Advisory & Escrow
We provide legal advisory through our partners in multiple countries. We use our experience to conduct legal due diligence to ensure that your ICO is fully compliant with legal and financial regulations in any jurisdiction you want to operate in. If necessary, we are also able to act as independent escrow agents to provide ICOs and investors with additional security during the ICO process.
Technical Advisory
We provide technical advisory through our service partners and help companies implement blockchain technology into their existing projects. We can conduct technical due diligence with programming code and security audits. Our developers ensure that your code and architecture meets or beats all technical requirements for efficient operations and a successful ICO.
Business Advisory
We act as members of your advisory board so that we can help guide your project towards success. We can also help you find people who can fill vital advisory and management roles within your project.
Ratings & Analysis
We undergo a thorough due diligence process on each project in order to provide an independent assessment prior to providing advisory services. This can be used as a great marketing tool in your ICO to show investors.
Who We Are
Denis Grodetskiy
Managing Partner
Denis has tremendous experience in a wide variety of senior and executive roles, after having worked for several state-owned enterprises. Mr Grodetskiy has founded and managed several ventures in Europe and the Middle East, where he has focused on corporate strategy. In 2016, Denis’s business activity lead him to the blockchain industry where he put his substantial experience to good use to help projects build their business model and develop their strategies. Mr Grodetskiy has a Master of Business Administration from the London Business School and a PhD in Economics.
Bunty Agarwal
Managing Partner
Bunty is an entrepreneur with global experience in corporate finance. Mr Agarwal has worked with clients in India, the Middle East, and Europe and has successfully raised capital for corporates in the real estate, pharmaceuticals, and media and telecommunications industries. More recently, Bunty has been involved with digital assets and blockchain technology by providing advisory services to several companies that are hosting ICOs in 2018. Mr Agarwal has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Business Administration from the London Business School.
Partners
Bright Law
(Estonia)
Legal Partners
Ambisafe
(USA)
Technical Partners
IntellectSoft
(USA)
Product Development Advisors
Gagnier Margossian
(USA)
Crowdfunding Legal Advisors
Walder Wyss
(Switzerland)
Crowdfunding Legal Advisors
ICO Promo
(Multinational)
Crowdfunding Partners
Portfolio
We have worked with a number of companies and projects in various industries on and off the blockchain. Our blockchain clients include:
Shping
Shping is a platform dedicated to anti-counterfeiting efforts and supply chain management through the blockchain. The platform relies on existing industry standard barcodes to track products from manufacturer to retailer. By using barcodes that are already in place, Shping avoids having to use external tracking equipment.
Group 5 services:
- Complete ICO management and structuring
- Business advisory
- Legal advisory
- Investor relations and social media marketing
Status: Token sale successfully completed
Apparent
Apparent is a platform dedicated to monetizing big data in the retail shopping industry. The platform relies on a central product information database that allows shoppers to see any information about a product that they are looking for. This includes point of origin, ingredients/composition, user reviews, and even promotional material from the manufacturer.
Group 5 services:
- Complete ICO management and structuring
- Business advisory
- Legal advisory
- Investor relations and social media marketing
Status: Under assessment
Treza
Treza is a financial asset manager that actively invests in the digital economy. Treza is in the process of setting up multiple funds that will invest in various cryptocurrencies and projects through ICOs.
Group 5 services:
- Complete ICO management and structuring
- Business advisory
- Legal advisory
- Investor relations and social media marketing
Status: Under assessment
MicroMoney
MicroMoney is a microfinance institution that serves the unbanked in developing nations. Through a revolutionary artificial intelligence and neural network scoring system, MicroMoney is able to process a loan application through a mobile application, with zero collateral, in only a few seconds.
Group 5 services:
- Token structuring (including liaising with cryptocurrency exchanges)
- Managing advisory board
- Social media marketing
- Investor relations
- ICO ratings
Status: Token sale successfully completed
Support Rich Games (SRG)
SRG is a mobile gaming platform which generates revenue by attracting social media influencers to promote virtual marketplaces within games. SRG has developed relationships with various game developers in the Asia-Pacific region, where it hopes to launch the platform by the end of 2017.
Group 5 services:
- Business model analysis
- Token restructuring
Status: Token sale successfully completed
FamilyPoints
FamilyPoints is a blockchain-based platform which helps new and young parents raise their children. The platform provides parents with significant discounts and allows them to earn reward points which can be used to access educational content such as videos or expert consultancy services. FamilyPoints is based in China and is expanding its operations to the United States.
Group 5 services:
- Business model analysis
- Token structuring
- Liaising with cryptocurrency exchanges
- ICO ratings
- Social media marketing
- Legal advisory
- Public relations
- Liaising with industry partners
Status: Ongoing
Vimana
Vimana is an infrastructure company that aims to revolutionise urban transportation with the use of autonomous aerial vehicles. Through a network of VTOL-capable vehicles and a blockchain-based airspace management protocol, Vimana is able to ensure rapid and safe air travel within cities. Vimana is building the future of urban air mobility today.
Services Group 5 provided:
- Token structuring (including liaising with cryptocurrency exchanges)
- Business model analysis
- Strategic business advisory
Status: Ongoing
Arbidex
Arbidex provides cryptocurrency traders with a much-needed solution and enables them to trade via a single platform interface on different exchanges and offering an automatic arbitrage feature.
Services Group 5 provided:
- Strategic business advisory
Status: Token sale successfully completed
Flux Games
FLUX is a global, decentralized gaming ecosystem based on blockchain technology. FLUX is a platform for competitive gaming and tournaments, a market for games and in-game items, a platform for streaming games, and a platform for funding gaming projects.
Services Group 5 provided:
- Business model analysis
- Token structuring
- Whitepaper revision
- Token sale documentation revision
- Website revision
Status: Token sale successfully completed
Optherium
Optherium Labs is solving current fintech problems by building a private distributed ledger network that permits individuals and corporations to securely store, interchange, and trade digital assets with global fiat currencies anywhere in the world. Optherium’s blockchain protocol is revolutionary and has the capacity to operate at speeds and a bandwidth that is far greater than possible by current protocols.
Services Group 5 provided:
- Token structuring (including liaising with cryptocurrency exchanges)
- Business model analysis
- Strategic business advisory
- Whitepaper revision
- Token sale documentation revision
Status: Ongoing
Sofitto
Sofitto’s mission is to bring the benefits of blockchain technology to the average user. Blockchain is revolutionizing how people send and receive money in an easier and more efficient process. To bring this closer to the reality, Sofitto is developing a new hardware wallet that is fully integrated with a proprietary payment network that will eventually allow users to pay for goods and services directly from their hardware wallets.
Services Group 5 provided:
- Business model analysis
- Financial modelling
- Branding
- Token structuring
- Social media marketing
- Legal advisory
- Public relations
- Liaising with industry partners
- Strategic business advisory
- Whitepaper creation
- Business plan creation
- Token sale documentation
- Investor relations
Status: Ongoing
BetMatch
Group 5 Advisory is working with a leading betting company to develop a brand new blockchain betting platform to make gambling on the blockchain decentralized and completely trustless. Additionally, the platform is developing a unique social betting network that allows for community interaction in a way that has never been done before.
Services Group 5 provided:
- Business model analysis
- Financial modelling
- Token structuring
- Liaising with industry partners
- Strategic business advisory
- Whitepaper creation
- Token sale documentation
Status: Ongoing
Contact Us
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