Uruguay begins financing blockchain projects through public and private investment.

Companies like ThalesLab and ANII are evaluating different ideas to take advantage of blockchain technology. ThalesLab and the National Agency for Innovation and Research (ANII) of Uruguay announced that the public and private sectors of that country are working together in order to promote technology projects, including blockchain technology. ThalesLab selected the first blockchain-focused startup.

According to sources, the Executive Director of ThalesLab, Sylvia Chebi, explained the agreement that doubles private investment in the financing of blockchain-related startups presented by ThalesLab, which have gone through a prior selection process. The first enterprise selected in this process is PowerLedgers. ANII will match the private investment.

“We have other projects that we are evaluating to present. Blockchain technology will impact many industries, and we are betting on promoting this technology and its applications from Uruguay,”

said Chebi.

In November of 2017, Thaleslab made a call to entrepreneurs in technology who would like to present projects in blockchain and autonomous vehicles for agriculture. The mixed fund for these purposes amounts to $4.5 million. $3 million dollars contributed by ANII as a subsidy, and $1.5 million dollars by Thaleslab, which will offer a support platform to develop startups projects with technical and methodological support.

PowerLedgers is a company focused on offering blockchain products and services for business and government markets, understanding blockchain technology as an especially useful tool for the exchange of information within corporate and government ecosystems, in a notarized, efficient and highly contracted.

“We have been contacted from Argentina, Paraguay, Panama, Colombia, Mexico and Spain, by companies that showed interest in representing our brand in their markets, or companies that were interested in evaluating us as technological partners for their projects,”

said Gonzalo Varalla, CEO for PowerLedgers.

Growing community

Since 2017, Uruguayans have been more interested in getting Bitcoins. This interest grew as the price of cryptocurrency grew. Many people and companies are involved in different areas such as trading, mining, education, and even as a payment method for their businesses. In Uruguay, many participate in a group called “Bitcoin Uruguay”, a community of people interested in cryptocurrencies linked by WhatsApp and Telegram groups. This community continues to grows every day.

 

by María Victoria Rodríguez

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