MState blockchain accelerator wins backing from IBM and Comcast

MState has launched a blockchain growth lab focused on scaling early stage start-ups that sell to the enterprise, and has been backed by a number of leading companies. 

MState said it will focus on investing in the most promising blockchain companies globally and help them scale successfully with Fortune 500 customers.

“The first wave of killer apps built on blockchain are already growing explosively, Cryptocurrencies built on blockchain like Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH) and Litecoin (LTC) have collectively surged past $500B in market valuation," said MState Co-Founder and CEO Rob Bailey.

“In 2018, we will see a growing number of enterprise blockchain use cases go mainstream from healthcare applications to government, supply chain and retail to the real estate and transportation industries.

“But for most of these use cases to succeed, blockchain start-ups need to be able to engage well with enterprise customers. Our growth lab is going to help make that happen.”

The founding team of Rob Bailey and the partners from Boldstart Ventures have collectively helped scale from inception more than 80 enterprise-focused companies that have raised more than $1bn in capital, had more than 30 exits and 3 IPOs. 

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Companies that are backing State are:

Comcast Ventures: The venture capital affiliate of Comcast Corporation, which invests in blockchain technology to explore new media models.

IBM: The leader in open-source blockchain solutions built for the enterprise (Source: Juniper Research). Dedicated to supporting the development of openly-governed blockchains, IBM has worked with clients across financial services, supply chains, IoT, risk management, digital rights management and healthcare to drive blockchain adoption in the enterprise.

Galvanize: A technology incubator, venture fund, and coding school with eight campuses around the US.

MState will run a six-month program at Galvanize offices in New York and San Francisco that will focus on helping technical founders with all aspects of their go-to-market strategy, including product development, team building, sales, marketing, finance, business development and customer support.

A core focus will be helping start-ups in the program engage successfully with prospective enterprise customers and partners.  MState has already built a network of 30 advisors which include five founders who have successfully built billion-dollar tech companies, as well as a team of 25 CMOs, COOs and CROs.