Goran Težak: Blockademia is a global project. Every day we are joined by new users, franchisees, and blockchain partners

The Croatian startup Blockademia, a domestic solution aiming to put an end to counterfeit documents, has completed its private sale investment phase, raising €2.25 million. Blockademia’s application, built on Cardano blockchain technology, enables the issuance and verification of document authenticity, and Blockademia is now entering the early sale phase of its own ACI token, followed by a community sale.

Blockademia has so far formed partnerships with over 20 business users, including five foreign franchisees, and is in negotiations with three global Cardano blockchain projects. On the domestic scene, they have established a technological partnership with the Faculty of Engineering in Rijeka. In addition to testing, the goal of the collaboration is to conduct a security audit of the system to ensure the application is safe for use.

Document verification is one of the major issues not only in the education system but also in the construction sector, insurance, and all legal transactions. Blockchain technology has many applications that are not limited to the financial industry. A decentralized system for issuing and verifying document authenticity seems like a perfect example, as the immutable, permanent, and secure nature of blockchain systems enables this.

Blockademia, as the second domestic startup on Cardano after Revuta, is developing its own application to address this social problem. We spoke with Goran Težak, the president of Blockademia, about the project’s development so far, capital raising, and future plans.

Why did you choose Cardano’s blockchain?

Three years ago, I had the opportunity to meet Charles Hoskinson and spend three days with him. During that time, I also met other key people from Cardano, the Cardano Foundation, Emurgo, and ambassadors from around the world. There were a total of 24 of them, and among them were us from Croatia – my friend and partner in the Blockademia project, Marin Kramarić, and I. I believe that blockchain technology is the future that is already among us, but most people are still unaware of it. Cryptocurrencies and blockchain have negative connotations, but in reality, it is a technology that is coming and will replace a good part of the current one. Through conversations with key people from Cardano, we were convinced that this is a project with an academic approach, not an attempt at quick profit. This fact further attracted us. This is the direction we want to go and the technology we want to engage with. It is important to emphasize that Cardano is a third-generation blockchain, containing all the essential features of a completely decentralized platform – security, speed, interoperability, and usability. Currently, this is the most advanced blockchain, and I believe it will remain so.

How many employees does Blockademia have?

The Blockademia project consists of 25 experts in sales, marketing, finance, law, and of course, developers of business applications and Cardano blockchain. Behind all of us is a professional team that helps transition the project to the next phase. In this phase, final development and testing will follow, as well as the formation of teams dedicated to the project worldwide. Additionally, we are actively seeking partners, franchisees, and users around the globe.

Can you briefly explain the purpose of your project?

Blockademia is a decentralized system for issuing and verifying the authenticity of documents such as diplomas, certificates, insurance policies, wills, land registries, contracts, attestations, as well as many other documents, and additionally a system for simple and quick verification of these documents using a record on the Cardano blockchain.

How many partnerships have you formed so far, and are you primarily focusing on the Croatian or foreign market?

Blockademia is a global project. Currently, we have agreements with over 20 business users, including five foreign franchisees, and we are in negotiations with three global Cardano blockchain projects. We are pleased with the interest in our project. Every day we are joined by new users, franchisees, and blockchain partners. We are particularly proud of the technological partnership with the Faculty of Engineering in Rijeka and the collaboration with Professor Kristijan Lenc, who joined us with his technical team of students. In addition to testing, their additional task is potentially hacking the system so that our technical team can create an application that is airtight and impenetrable.

In your opinion, what is the biggest barrier to the adoption of blockchain technology?

As with everything – ignorance! You know how the saying goes that there are big eyes in the dark. It is just like that here. Still, too few people from the real business engage with blockchain technology. If you ask people around you if they have heard of blockchain, they will wonder if it is bitcoin. If you mention the word crypto, the vast majority will first think that it is some dubious money or a scam. In short, we have a long way ahead of us, and a lot of education will be needed, but we consciously entered into this.

What is the use case of your ACI token, and how many will there be in total?

The ACI token is a native token on the Cardano blockchain and will be used as a utility token through which all actions within the Blockademia application will take place, which is why it is essential for the functioning of the system. The total amount of tokens is limited to 250 million ACI. It is important for us to ensure a fair initial distribution and optimal decentralization from the start, which is why we adhere to several principles during the initial token offering. We will strive to distribute ACI tokens to as many Blockademia users as possible from the very beginning, and it is also important to us that no token holder possesses a significant amount that would allow them to manipulate the market. Additionally, there will be no significant differences in the token price during the initial offering, while in the early distribution we include participants from various sectors – from early supporters, investors, to small token holders and future participants in the Blockademia system.

The first period of public fundraising is about to begin. So far, you have only allowed investment from investors. What amount do you plan to raise?

To successfully complete the project on a global scale, we have released 34 percent of the total amount of ACI tokens to the market over the next 12 months. As I mentioned, this is a native token on the Cardano blockchain that we are actually exchanging for ADA tokens. The funds raised will primarily be spent on further project development, promotion, marketing, hiring, and other activities.

Each period is characterized by a certain minimum and maximum that individuals can invest, and there are also different prices at which the ACI token is sold. According to the data on your website, it is clear that you first want to attract more serious investors, am I right?

That’s right, Blockademia is a serious project backed by a serious and professional team of people. With the right partners and investors, I can confidently say – the sky is the limit for us.

You are the second Cardano project on the Croatian blockchain scene after Revuta. Are you in contact with them and perhaps collaborating?

Of course, we are very pleased that our colleagues from Revuta have achieved excellent results and ‘broken the ice’ with good ideas and projects. We help each other, and in the same way, we will assist everyone else who dares to venture in that direction, regardless of what technology they use. I believe we are all pioneers and that we should help each other. Blockademia is available to everyone for friendly advice, support, and in the near future, investments in new startups.

What are your future plans, and when do you plan to launch the full version of the application?

We have outlined clear plans and transparently set them in our ‘Road Map’. So far, everything is going according to schedule. I can freely say it is going even better than expected. Indeed, people are contacting us, asking if we can help them. We are always glad to hear that there are interested parties who want to be part of the project. Our concrete plan is to complete the ‘Token Sale’ in December and set up a team for the first and second quarters of 2022, where we will work intensively on completing the application and testing with our users and partners, as well as listing the ACI token on the first exchanges. In the third quarter of 2022, the plan is to complete the iOS and Android application for document verification. In the fourth quarter of 2022, we will go live or as we say in the blockchain world, on the ‘Mainnet’. We hope that at the same time next year we will have a new interview about how we completed the Blockademia project on schedule.

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