Iconomi is another brainchild of the Blockchain that is making waves in the community and changing the face of investments by using initial coin offering as a method for raising capital.

Cointelegraph spoke to Jani Valjavec, co-founder of Iconomi, about how they are leveraging Blockchain DAOs to disrupt the financial industry.

Cointelegraph: What Iconomi is about?

Jani Valjavec: Iconomi is the first global fund management platform for the decentralised economy. In 2017, we will launch a platform where anyone can be a professional fund manager. With no real need for middlemen, Iconomi as a vehicle will allow people to invest in cryptoassets and decentralised-economy startups with fiat money. More so, Before the end of 2016 we will introduce our two crypto-based investment funds. Funds will minimise the volatility, simplify the investment process and offload the burden of research due its diligence to investment professionals with a proven track record.

At Iconomi we strongly believe in the decentralised economy. Judging from market reactions and from analysing user trends, we share this belief with a much wider audience.

CT: When you say your method is driven by app tokens instead of traditional shares, what does it mean?

JV: After the introduction of the Ethereum and on top of that the emergence of the first app tokens, we figured that startups are moving away from “classic” VC funding. Instead of going through many tranches of VC-funding, startups with disruptive business ideas are using the ICO mechanism to quickly raise needed capital, and immediately start developing their product. The DAO was the first successful used case of this new way to raise capital (although unfortunately it ended badly)... We are working hard to make Iconomi a better example, as we have learned from mistakes of predecessors. Instead of shares, shareholders of Iconomi receive our own ICN apptokens. Several exchanges have already announced that they will add ICN soon after the genesis on Tuesday 11 October 2016.

CT: Do you think you're leading the way for a lot of start-ups to raise funds the way you're doing?

JV: Yes, and we will redefine the way it is done. We have already received strong interest from startups that are planning to raise capital in the following months. They are interested in our platform, our infrastructure, which proved in the Iconomi ICO case to be the best out there. We are evaluating idea to offer our tools and products to the interested parties. Expect an announcement on this question in a few weeks time.

CT: Where do you see Iconomi in half a decade?

JV: We're the Uber for fund management and financial services. Iconomi will connect professionals with knowledge, experience and skills with the investors. What we foresee that will happen with time is the evolution of funds. At the beginning, funds will include only cryptocurrencies and investments into the decentralised-economy, later, digitalisation of traditional assets will follow. Iconomi will take a significant share of traditional funds business.

Iconomi is the first fund management platform. With funds collected we will define what fund management means in the decentralised economy. We are the leaders. Already, IconomiI has a significant advantage in terms of business model, funding and regulatory activities.

Today we aim crypto -fund management with almost 1000 value tokens, next year we expect the number will boom. Even more, we see this new form of raising money as a new mainstream way how startups will raise money and be managed. ICO is just a way of raising money, they will be the leaders in this segment, some kind of decentralised Y combinator for those outside US. This will happen in the next two years. In five years Iconomi will use the same knowledge and enter old economy.