Blockchain-Based Crowdfunding Platform Investx Opens Its Ethical ICO Pre-Sale

A blockchain-based SME funding platform has announced that the opening of its token sale will follow ‘ethical ICO’ principles.

U.K.-registered Investx is a crowdfunding platform enabling retail, accredited and institutional investors worldwide the ability to invest in established small and medium-sized (SMEs) British businesses in a cost-efficient and transparent way.

According to Investx, SMEs are the backbone of the economy; however, expanding them is not easy due to the difficulties in gaining new capital. In a bid to provide a solution, the platform is launching its initial coin offering (ICO), through its INX token. It hopes that by doing so SMEs will have the chance to raise funds based on selling equity in their companies.

“Our ICO will allow us to provide equity investment for smaller businesses to ensure they can grow and thrive,” said Richard Chambers, a former Royal Bank of Scotland director and Investx COO. “Investx fills a clear gap in the market for established SMEs to obtain the funding they need.”

Not only that, but in order to reduce risk to potential investors and maximise the long-term value of the INX token, Investx will be following the ‘ethical ICO’ principles.

Speaking about this, Peter Edgar, CEO and co-founder of Investx, said that the “ethical ICO is the next step in opening up this opportunity to the whole investment community,” adding:

“The INX token will form the basis of the Investx platform, helping to fix the broken SME funding system thanks to a pioneering application of the blockchain technology.”

According to a Medium post from last month, the ethical ICO model was conceived by Holo, a company that is working at building a peer-to-peer internet. It is also releasing Holochain, an open-source blockchain framework for distributed applications that tackle the scale, storage, and performance challenges.

The post notes that Holo completed the first ethical ICO in April, raising $20 million to fund its distributed computing platform.

There are three fundamental principles to Investx’s ethical ICO.

The first is that tokens are backed by reserves. Holo states that Investx will hold a fiat reserve account, which is the initial purchasing power to token holders. The aim is to reduce volatility.

The second is a sustainable token suuply. The number of tokens will grow with the business, keeping in line with demand, thereby increasing the purchasing power of them. The third principle is that the community shares in the company success. The Medium post states that “company shares in Investx are set aside for the investment community, allowing token holders to share in its success.”

Edgar noted that “we wanted to differentiate our ICO by openly committing to ethical ICO principles. These are steps we’ve taken to stabilize the token, lay foundations for future growth, and commit to transparency that holds us accountable to token holders.”

David Atkinson, a Holo director, has joined Investx as an adviser. Investx’s ICO pre-sale is now live. The public sale is set to begin in Q1 2019.