New Icelandic venture studio will fund global decentralization

A new venture studio in Reykjavik will focus on decentralized solutions to difficult problems in data-heavy areas like logistics, energy, health, and genetics. The fund will not focus on any single industry but will instead fund companies building decentralized solutions for those industries.

Iceland Venture Studio will bring funding and mentorship to startups that focus on the heavy lifting required to build out truly smart, decentralized solutions.

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"Personal data, privacy and security are acknowledged mega-trends that are ready for decentralization," said co-founder Bala Kamallakharan. "We believe in investing in founders and companies who understand and are accelerating the adoption of this technology shift to leverage customer centricity. We believe the next generation of founders and companies that are changing the nature of data capture, processing, interactivity and algorithmic development of value with the human-machine interaction will lead us into the age of AI and AR."

Initial startups in the fund include RetinaRisk, 50Skills, and FLOWVR. Not every company in the portfolio will be blockchain-based but the goal is to bring distributed, decentralized thinking to multiple startups across the globe.

"Our team resolves challenges with solutions around technology strategy, marketing and sales to recruiting and talent development targeted specifically to these companies and their needs and help take their companies to the next level," said Kamallakharan.

About Author

John Biggs is an entrepreneur, consultant, writer, and maker. He spent fifteen years as an editor for Gizmodo, CrunchGear, and TechCrunch and has a deep background in hardware startups, 3D printing, and blockchain. His work has appeared in Men’s Health, Wired, and the New York Times. He runs the Technotopia podcast about a better future. He has written five books including the best book on blogging, Bloggers Boot Camp, and a book about the most expensive timepiece ever made, Marie Antoinette’s Watch. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. Disclosure: Biggs owns and maintains cryptocurrencies in a private account and has been consulting with startups regarding blockchain-based products. He also edits and writes for startup clients.