Canada has a ripe environment for fintech and entrepreneurship, so it’s no surprise that the blockchain economy sees Canada as a home for successful cryptocurrency and blockchain companies and communities. One such community is Toronto-based BlockGeeks, founded in 2016 by Vlad Martynov, Dmitry Buterin and Ameer Rosic.

The organization has the lofty goal of training 10,000 blockchain developers each year to provide businesses and investors with practical blockchain expertise and accelerate the blockchain ecosystem.

BlockGeeks brands themselves as an online, affordable “Blockchain-training educational technology platform for learning and teaching online” and their stated mission is to share knowledge of blockchain technology, connecting those with the knowledge to those who need it.

Getting to know the founders

“Buterin” is a well known name in the ecosystem already; Dmitry Buterin is the father of Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin.

JOIN OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Despite Dmitry Buterin being coach, advisor and angel investor for many blockchain startups, the credit for Ethereum is given to Vitalik and the Ethereum team, which is why Vitalik is usually the more well known Buterin family member.

Dmitry Buterin’s background is equally as impressive as his son’s, though. He’s the founder of three multi-million dollar businesses, including non-profit serving SaaS company Wild Apricot.

“Blockchain technologies have already begun to change the world, and their potential to radically disrupt it is massive.”

– Dmitry Buterin

Co-founder Ameer Rosic is a well-known speaker and vlogger in blockchain, an entrepreneur, marketing expert, and investor.

While Buterin is the co-founder of BlockGeeks and BlockGeeksLabs, Rosic has the most active role in BlockGeeks and runs day-to-day operations.

The other co-founders include angel investor and company creator Vlad Martynov, founder of the first distant technology center in Russia, Sasha Baksht, and software engineer Haseeb Rabbani.

BlockGeeks emerged from Rosic’s identification of an untapped niche to connect companies needing skilled blockchain developers, and discussions with Dmitry Buterin, who introduced Rosic to Martynov. Rosic believes that businesses outside of fintech don’t understand blockchain, so they tend to avoid it, but they are missing out on the potential.

Martynov is also a partner in Buterin’s firm Wild Apricot. He was head of Microsoft’s ISV Global Strategy and his individual ventures have brought Russian software technology to North America. He was the co-founder of ERP Software Company and CEO of Columbus IT Partners.

Software engineer Haseeb Rabbani cites his title at BlockGeeks as Lead ‘Devangelist’ – Developer Evangelist. He’s a blockchain engineer who describes himself as a “change agent of the future.”

BlockGeeks in the blockchain economy

Using BlockGeeks, students can learn from developers, entrepreneurs, investors, and leaders about blockchain technologies.

BlockGeeks has a very active, open blockchain community and are planning to add a blockchain jobs board in the near future.

The organization says their website sees over 45,000 members daily, with a million visitors per month, connecting blockchain developers and existing as a medium for employers to educate themselves on the technology and its workflow applications.

This community will produce much-needed talent, as there are approximately 4,000 blockchain developers globally, compared to over 10 million web developers.

As companies seek to embrace blockchain and build future technologies, the skills gap will only widen. BlockGeeks is trying to get ahead of this climb, helping to close the skills gap through promoting formal blockchain education.

Image credit: Blockgeeks

Buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and other cryptocurrencies on Coinsquare.

Buy Digital Currencies on Coinsquare