Alongside with the investment, Cere Network announced the launch of a new office in New York, as well as plans to set up the Cere Network Innovation Factory in Berlin during Berlin Blockchain Week, which will be held between Aug. 18 and Aug. 29.
Cere Network, a San Francisco-based blockchain customer relationship management (CRM) startup, has completed a $3.5 million funding round.
The seed round involved major global blockchain investors, including Binance Labs, a venture arm of Binance, the second biggest crypto exchange by trading volumes to date.
Other investors included Neo Global Capital, Fenbushi Capital, Arrington XRP Capital, Kenetic Capital, Alphabit Fund, Block VC, Kosmos Capital, LD Capital, Monday Capital, Pre Angel Fund and Republic Labs.
One of the most rapidly evolving industries
Founded by Silicon Valley veterans with tech expertise from Amazon, Twitch and Bebo, Cere Network plans to disrupt the rapidly developing CRM industry. According to the press release, global spending on CRM solutions surged by almost 16% in 2018 and reached $48 million.
By applying blockchain technology to CRM, Cere Network intends to expand the limited pool of data shared in CRM, also ensuring privacy and security of data, the press release notes.
Feng Xiao, general partner at China-based $50 million crypto fund Fenbushi Capital, stressed Cere Network’s potential to address interoperability issues across multiple industries.
Earlier in July, Cointelegraph reported on Cere Network receiving a strategic funding from Binance Labs, Arrington XRP Capital and NEO Global Capital. A participant of Binance Labs’ incubation program, Cere is also the issuer of incentive token CERE, which is used to motivate people to run blockchain nodes.
Last week, global CRM giant Salesforce certified first ever artwork-painted Lamborghini Aventador S through its blockchain platform.
American Boxing Legend Mike Tyson Chooses Blockchain for New Venture
Iconic American boxer Mike Tyson is spearheading a new blockchain-powered cross-entertainment platform for a new generation of fighters.
On Aug. 13, VentureBeat reported that the new venture – dubbed “Fight to Fame” – will use blockchain technology to underpin a new, multi-pronged platform that aims to catapult aspiring fighters to success via social media, reality TV, film, games, live matches and betting.
“Wealth generation from the masses”
While Tyson will serve as the founder and chairman of the sports and competition committee for Fight to Fame, the project also counts Farzam Kamalabadi as its CEO, the two-time Emmy award winner Tim Smithe as its television producer and Stan Larimer as its cryptocurrency and blockchain expert.
Tyson said in a statement that:
“As a seasoned fighter, I want to mentor future generations, especially future action stars and make sure there’s a path to career success and fair compensation. Building this global platform for them is a passion of mine.”
Fair compensation, according to Kamalabadi, is driven by a blockchain ecosystem that “solves the empowerment that didn’t exist in the internet era”:
“This is about wealth generation from the masses, but back to the masses through all the participants and stakeholders. So it is not just win-win. This is multiple wins for all the stakeholders.”
A fan token economy will be launched in order to drive engagement as well as to reap the project’s gains for the fighters, fans and company alike.
Kamalbadi and Smithe noted that in the case of industry titans such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), fighters often walk away with just 15% of their take after fees.
Driving blockchain adoption
More details about Fight to Fame’s planned fan token offering are due to be released in future; the tokens will apparently confer betting and voting rights on their holders and form part of a transparent blockchain-based economy for the entire ecosystem.
As previously reported, this winter the Litecoin Foundation partnered with premier kickboxing league Glory to become the official cryptocurrency for its online merchandise platform and international events.
In fall 2018, French soccer club Paris Saint-Germain – which has been hailed as the country’s “most popular” team – had partnered with blockchain platform Socios.com to incentivize and monetize fan engagement and experiences via a token ecosystem.
