Blockchain Startups

Deso is a social blockchain platform founded by Nader Al-Naji that enables users to have their own coins and creators to build value directly on-chain. The project explores the future of social media on the blockchain with related products like BitClout, CloutFeed, and PolyGram. This interview with podcast MFM discusses the vision and philosophy behind the social blockchain movement.

Venly is a blockchain-focused SaaS platform that grew from $5k to $40k MRR in the last 6 months. The company helps users leverage blockchain technology in their applications and services.

Graphite Docs was a privacy-focused, blockchain-based alternative to Google Docs that launched to viral success on Product Hunt and Hacker News in March 2018, reaching $20,000/month in grant funding at its peak. However, founder Justin Hunter made a critical strategic mistake by pivoting from his engaged consumer/blockchain enthusiast user base to pursue a B2B enterprise market where the product's core features (user control, blockchain complexity) were fundamentally misaligned with customer needs. The company ultimately failed and shut down in late 2020 due to lack of product-market fit in the B2B segment and Hunter's inability to adapt despite clear signals that users wanted a consumer product.

1729 is a newsletter-based platform that pays users in cryptocurrency to complete micro-tasks, learn new skills, and earn portable crypto credentials (badges). Founded by Balaji Srinivasan, it represents a reaction against the 'entropic internet' by offering deliberate, rewarding content consumption and skill-building through verified on-chain credentials, with ambitions to become a job board and credentialing system for the crypto-native future.

DeSo is a blockchain infrastructure built from 2019-2021 that powers decentralized social networks. BitClap was the first prototype app launched in March 2021 with a viral growth mechanism of pre-populated user profiles and creator coins, achieving $80M in invested capital across the network despite only ~10,000-50,000 daily active users. The project faced criticism for anonymity and lack of withdrawals initially, but shifted to transparency by revealing founder Nader Al-Naji and establishing the DeSo Foundation, with 100+ apps now built on the blockchain and creator monetization through NFTs and social tokens.

Christoph Jentzsch, a theoretical physicist and early Ethereum contributor, co-founded Sloc.it in 2015 to enable decentralized sharing economy through blockchain and IoT integration. After learning hard lessons from the failed DAO project, he pivoted to building software that sits on top of IoT devices (like smart locks and EV charging stations), allowing asset owners to receive payments via smart contracts. The company raised $2M in seed funding in early 2017 and deployed its solution on over 1,000 EV charging stations.

BigchainDB, founded by Bruce Poon, is a blockchain database platform designed to handle data-driven enterprise use cases that Bitcoin and Ethereum cannot efficiently support. Currently serving 5-10 customers at $5-10k/month with $50-60k MRR (targeting $100k by year-end), the company has raised $6 million and employs 20 people (mostly PhDs) to solve supply chain tracking, regulatory compliance, and data provenance problems across industries like pharmaceuticals, energy, and automotive.

Zcash is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency that adds enhanced data security to Bitcoin by protecting transaction confidentiality and preventing pattern analysis. Founded by Zouko Wilcoxie, it raised $3 million from Silicon Valley angels and launched as an independent blockchain in October 2016, quickly achieving global adoption with daily transaction volumes around $20 million across 15-20 international exchanges. The project has gained significant traction through mining accessibility worldwide and strategic partnerships including JP Morgan's blockchain security solution.

Rwango is a proximity marketing SaaS company founded in 2014 that uses Wi-Fi and Bluetooth beacons to help retailers send targeted marketing messages to nearby customers. The bootstrap startup has deployed across 500 retail locations worldwide, generating approximately $15,000 MRR with a pay-per-location ($25-30/month) business model. With zero churn and only a 7-person team based in India, Rwango is exploring blockchain integration and expanding into logistics and apparel tracking.

Bindle is a digital credential wallet that converts health records into non-fungible tokens, allowing venues and events to verify vaccination status and test results without accessing sensitive medical data. Founded in June 2020 with first release in August 2020, the company is currently processing around 4,000 scans monthly across 200 active paying customers and 100,000 installed wallets across 30 US states and Canadian provinces. Operating at a usage-based model charging 10 cents per scan, Bindle generates approximately $400-500 monthly in revenue while competing against larger players like Clear and IBM.