May was an eventful month for VeChain. Perhaps most high profile news was the announcement that Plair platform will be the first ICO to launch on VeChainThor. They also released their much-anticipated whitepaper.
Other than that, the month was full of partnerships, expos, and accolades. Here’s a quick overview of the main developments at VeChain in May 2018.
New Partnerships
VeChain has been on a roll this past month when it comes to forging partnerships with other companies.
In early May, they signed a partnership with Bright Foods, China’s second-largest food company, and its subsidiary Shanghai Xiandao Food. This deal will result in VeChain being implemented across the company’s entire supply chain and data management systems — with particular attention paid to cold-chain logistics, dealing with the transport and lifespan of refrigerated products.
Their supplementation of blockchain technology with IoT allows for transparent, immutable accounts to be made for all of Bright Foods’ products, from field to retail shelf. As their partnership evolves, Bright Foods and VeChainThor will also be developing new solutions via cold-chain logistics to further streamline supply chain management.
On May 25, VeChain officially announced another partnership with Lingang Intelligent Manufacturing Exhibition Trading Center, owned by the state-owned enterprise Shanghai Lingang Economic Development Group. This company deals with the investment, zoning, and construction of industrial parks, and they employ over 400,000 people across 8,300 zones.
This partnership will bring VeChain into the spotlight in a big way, fueling development of the VeChainThor platform. In return, VeChain’s IoT capabilities will provide the structure in Lingang’s push to become an international smart manufacturing center. Ultimately, this collaboration will result in innovative developments and global recognition for both parties.
VeChain Receives Praise for Innovation at VivaTech Event
2018’s VivaTech Event, which took place in Paris on May 24 to 26, is one of the globe’s top networking collaborative events for startups, VCs, and other high-profile personalities in the tech industry. This year, 800 applicants across fields including blockchain, AI, and sustainability weighed in for the highly sought after LVMH Innovation Award.
VeChain was represented by Sarah Nabaa and Jerome Grilleres, General Managers of Singapore and Europe respectively. They then had the opportunity to pitch VeChain to a panel of CEOs, founders, and investors, who responded with great interest. Ultimately, VeChain tied for runner-up to the prestigious award, and given the steep competition at VivaTech, the VeChain team are over the moon!
[#LVMH at @VivaTech] @iancr just announced the two runners-up: Congratulations to Kronos Care and Vechain for their innovative and excellent project!#VivaTech #LVMHTech #LVMHInnovationAward pic.twitter.com/Ymi7A0eO6F
— LVMH (@LVMH) May 25, 2018
Expanding the VeChain Ecosystem
While horses may seem like an ultra-niche interest to some, the equine industry is actually worth $300 billion. MustangChain is looking to disrupt this lucrative field using the VeChainThor blockchain.
Its CEO, Danny van de Griend, has addressed various problems in the equine industry, including growth stagnation, lack of transparency, and fragmentation. He intends to corroborate with VeChain’s IoT capabilities and permanent ledger to usher in a new trend of transparency to the industry, eradicating fraud.
Van de Griend states:
For the capture of equine data on the MustangChain platform, a unique application of the digital passport will be issued listing crucial information such as ownership, medical records, physical conditions, and breeding history. This process will add additional layers of protection to the horse, not just from an ownership perspective but from a moral and wellbeing through ethical governance and tracking of breeders and horses.
Also, in a move that will hopefully set a future trend, DECENT.bet, an online smart contract-based casino and bookmaker, became the first blockchain platform to switch from Ethereum to the VeChainThor blockchain. DECENT.bet envisions bringing the transparency and fairness of blockchain to online gambling, and they chose VeChainThor as the platform is aligned with them in their vision for a more ethical digital casino.
In the near future, DECENT.bet foresees 4 phases as they fully assimilate into VeChain’s ecosystem: finishing their mainnet and building their first game for public play, expanding vertically into more traditional casino games (e.g. poker, slots, etc.), expanding horizontally into other gambling areas (e.g. esports and skill-based betting), and then upgrading everything they have running so far.
CEO Sunny Lu Speaks at Big Data Expo
China International Big Data Industry Expo is an annual forum and demonstration event where aficionados of blockchain, big data, and cloud service can get together and share ideas. This year it took place in Guiyang, China, from May 28–29. On May 28, the co-founder and CEO of VeChain, Sunny Lu, served as a keynote speaker with his speech: “How to Discover and Build Outstanding Blockchain Application Projects.”
The Big Data Expo proved an excellent opportunity to reach out and interact with active members of the field, and Lu took the initiative to share various enterprise applications that have been enacted on the VeChain platform. Ultimately, with over 40,000 guests in attendance including world-famous entrepreneurs, academics, and field experts, the Expo was a fruitful experience for everyone.
Not only did VeChain seize the moment to showcase themselves as the world’s largest supply chain blockchain solution, but they doubtless networked and made connections that will further nourish their robust ecosystem.
With their mainnet launch and Q3 2018 just around the corner, it will be exciting to see what new developments and accomplishments VeChain has in store!
Related: Top 6 Mainnet Launches To Look Forward To In May and June 2018
