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At the London Blockchain Conference 2024, some of the most innovative companies from the Block Dojo took to the stage to introduce their products to the audience and share their successes and future plans. CoinGeek Backstage’s Claire Celdran caught up with two founders to discuss their companies and what sets them apart.
BizCrunch: Entrepreneurship through acquisition
In the world of startups, mergers and acquisitions are regular, and there are plenty of tools and resources to assist both the sellers and the buyers in getting the best value. However, in the business world, entrepreneurs are stuck with outdated tools and end up losing out on massive value when selling their brick-and-mortar businesses.
Alfie Lambert, a Block Dojo graduate, is out to change this with BizCrunch. The company “is all about entrepreneurship through acquisition. It’s helping people in the United Kingdom buy and sell existing legacy businesses.”
Lambert noted that the U.K. has an aging population, and with millions approaching retirement, they need a solution that allows them to sell their businesses at the right value and to buyers who align with their values. According to a study by the U.K. Parliament, there are nearly 13 million people aged 65 or over in the country, accounting for 20% of the population.
BizCrunch participated in the Dojo in 2023, and reflecting the demand and quality of its services, it completed its first funding round even before graduating from the 12-week program.
In October 2023, the company launched the first version of its platform, connecting business sellers and buyers. It’s now generating revenue and recently signed a deal with the most prominent mergers and acquisitions course provider in the U.K. to teach new people how to use its product.
“We’re growing really fast, and we’re in a really good place right now,” said Lambert.
Lambert intends to introduce tokenization on the platform to expand the target market, reduce buyers’ risk and ease sellers’ processes.
“The long-term goal for us is to bring business assets onto the blockchain, allowing for the tokenization of businesses. We believe that kind of fractionalization will allow for the atomic swapping of assets, which will make it much more efficient and help with cross-border M&A as well.”
TravelVRse: Experience-guided travelling
The travel and tourism industry is one of the world’s largest, representing 9% of global gross domestic product (GDP) at nearly $10 trillion and employing 330 million people. It’s this prime industry that Alex Hurd is targeting with TravelVRse, a platform that offers unique experiences to travelers through its Play Before You Stay Platform.
“We’re working with luxury hotels, building them the first direct booking platform based on experiences. [Users get to] try out experiences within the hotel—might be wellness, yoga, spa—and also whatever’s interesting to do in the local area,” Hurd told CoinGeek Backstage.
TravelVRse graduated from the Dojo last year. Since then, it has signed up luxury hotels in San Diego and is set to launch its beta version this year. It will include a treasure hunt in The US GRANT hotel in San Diego.
“You can go in, explore the hotel, take part in their activities and complete gamified challenges. If you complete these challenges and find their secret speakeasy, you earn a discount on your stay,” said Hurd.
TravelVRse is a B2B platform whose solution is integrated into the hotel’s website. Users get to explore the hotel before they book in a virtual gaming environment on any device.
Watch: Block Dojo x BSVA Spring Party—Celebrating the utility of BSV blockchain
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