Alice offers social funding through blockchain technology
by Startacus Admin
Blockchain for social good! London-based FinTech startup Alice is one of the world’s first companies to put Ethereum blockchain technology to practical use in the charity sector beyond simple cryptocurrency donations...
In 2013, the Guardian reported that UK charities are missing out on £665m in donations annually. Since then, public confidence in charities has plummeted, reaching its lowest point on record in 2016. This is a quiet crisis that puts real lives at risk and must be addressed before it is too late for the people these charities strive to help.
London-based FinTech(-for-good?) startup Alice is one of the world’s first companies to put Ethereum blockchain technology to practical use in the charity sector beyond .png "Alice blockchain social funding")
simple cryptocurrency donations. The way it works is to freeze donations to a charity until that charity can prove that they have achieved the goals set out and which attracted the donation in the first place. If they do not, the money is simply returned to the donors.
This money is paid in normal currency rather than cryptocurrencies, which are too volatile, a process made possible partly in partnership with the Financial Conduct Authority’s sandbox programme - which aims to foster innovation in the financial services industry - and with Tramonex Labs, a FinTech startup that issues e-money on the blockchain.
This methodology allows Alice and their partner charities to make the performance of charity projects public and fully auditable; ensure performance data is secure and extremely difficult to falsify or hack; and manage the conditional payment of donations based on charity performance.
The startup has been working with homelessness charity St Mungo’s in an appeal called Street Impact: 15 Lives, which is helping 15 people sleeping rough - and for whom traditional approaches and efforts to help them into housing have so far not worked - to put their lives back together. So far, over £13,000 has been raised towards this goal.
This pilot scheme with St Mungo’s is being run with funding from Nominet Trust’s Social Tech Seed programme, and we think that this helping hand will be all Alice needs to help prove how valuable they could be to rebuilding trust in charity.
Like the sound of this Fintech startup? You might want to read up on:
Wagestream - offering employee financial wellness at a click.
Wrisk - The InsurTech startup that's on a mission to make macroinsurance our insurance of choice.
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
Innovative startups are currently being sought by BMW Group Financial Services UK which has just launched the third instalment of its Innovation Lab
Starting a business can be a lot of hard work, so here's a few ways to avoid burnout and find a healthy work life balance.
At one-day event Ideation NI Thon, students will get the chance to solve global and local sustainability, environmental, city and health problems.
NI startup ESTHER, a peer-2-peer giving platform allowing charitable donors to give money directly to people living in poverty, head to New York for a 4-day fact finding mission.
The lowdown on how an Australian startup generated global sales for their innovative product, "weighted blankets"...
At 82% the UK takes 4th place in the list of countries being most ready for automation and robotics, whilst 30% of UK population’s jobs are at risk of automation.
The innovative game, eQuoo that helps users build their emotional fitness and thereby help fight their mental illness
The London-based femtech startup that is using AI and genetic testing to provide a tailored oral contraception service for women
Recent research by Starling bank shows that in 2019, women earned up to £12,319 less per year than their male colleagues of the same age and within the same industry
Brandtech group, You & Mr Jones, has invested in ethical video startup Good-Loop who have closed a US $1.6m seed funding round.
Published on: 15th September 2018
.png)
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.
- Ideation NI Thon at NI Science Festival sets out to solve global issues 17th Jan 2020 At one-day event Ideation NI Thon, students will get the chance to solve global and local sustainability, environmental, city and health problems.
- NI startup ESTHER takes flight to New York 16th Jan 2020 NI startup ESTHER, a peer-2-peer giving platform allowing charitable donors to give money directly to people living in poverty, head to New York for a 4-day fact finding mission.
- 2019 stats show that the gender pay gap continues 14th Jan 2020 Recent research by Starling bank shows that in 2019, women earned up to £12,319 less per year than their male colleagues of the same age and within the same industry
- Digital DNA Awards 2020 nominations now open 13th Jan 2020 The Digital DNA Awards, held in partnership with MCS Group, celebrate the best tech talent, from companies of all sizes, excelling in the world of Digital and Tech and not just in NI...
