Dear Community,

As 2018 begins to wind down, we want to give you a sneak peek at some of the exciting things we’ve been working on—some fantastic updates that we have for you today—and the major milestones we can’t wait to share with you in January.

Overview

The past few months have been a whirlwind!

Our business development & leadership teams have been all over the world, attending major blockchain conferences and hosting a suite of events specific to shipping and logistics.

In Dusseldorf, Germany, we attended ETF 3PL, one of the largest conferences dedicated to freight and logistics. There we met with dozens of Fortune 500 companies that were interested in exploring the potential to integrate blockchain tech. At Decentralized 2018 in Athens, Greece, several ShipChain team members spoke on a panel including our CTO, Lee Bailey and our VP of Partnerships, Clinton Senkow. There, our CEO, John Monarch, led an exciting keynote as well. In Austin, Texas, ShipChain was the headline sponsor of the CIO Logistics Forum where CEO John Monarch gave a talk on Rethinking How Enterprises View Public Vs. Private Blockchains. And most recently, we attended Data CIO in Dubai, where we won the Business IT Innovation Award.

His Excellency Khamis Juma Buamim presented the award to John himself! Mr. Buamim is a businessman who has been at the head of 5 different companies. He currently holds the position of Chairman of The Dubai Council for Marine & Maritime Industries and Group Chief Executive Officer, MD & Director at Gulf Navigation Holding PJSC. Mr. Buamim is also on the board of Drake & Scull International LLC.

We will continue our mission to extend ShipChain’s reach and make ourselves visible to partners who see blockchain technology as the future for freight and logistics. As per Håkan Nilsson, the CEO of one of our partners, Zinnovate, “ShipChain is definitely a company with global ambitions.”

Tech Updates

As a company, we are extremely excited about the role our technology and our community is playing in the freight and logistics industry.

Our CTO, Lee Bailey, shared internally after attending the well-known Ethereum conference, DevCon 4, “Our primary takeaway was that the technology emerging in this space is nothing short of revolutionary. But, we should be proud of how far along our platform is, considering much of what was presented is still being concepted, or barely passing functional testing. Between our actual hardware, and the functionality of our Track & Trace program, it’s remarkable that our platform is already working—with a front-end interface that is polished and beautiful.”

While other blockchain companies are six to twelve months off from acquiring their first real user, ShipChain’s platform is up and running—and we’re excited to share that we are ready for a few more companies to join our pilot program today.

So, if you need to know where your shipping containers are and want to start Tracking & Tracing, let us know. Send us an email at bizdev@shipchain.io to get the ball rolling.

ShipChain and Perdue Successfully Complete Pilot Program

We have concluded the blockchain-based pilot shipping initiative with Perdue Farms, and we are happy to announce that it was a success. ShipChain’s goal of the pilot was to show the company how it could increase transparency and accountability across its supply chain through blockchain solutions. During the pilot, we successfully tracked Perdue fleet vehicle data and recorded it to the Ethereum blockchain

“The first priority of any blockchain company right now is showing users and companies how it benefits them, and pilot programs are critical to that. We thank all of our partners for their interest in this nascent technology.” John Monarch, ShipChain CEO.

Marketing

Over the past few months, we have made the conscious decision to fine-tune our message and be even more industry-specific.

Although our platform is built on Ethereum, we like to think of ourselves first and foremost as a technology solution for the freight and logistics industries. Enhancing our communications strategy was step one to further reinforcing this mission. Further, our core mission is to educate industry veterans and longstanding Fortune 500 companies on the different ways our Track & Trace technology will fundamentally change the way assets move from destination to destination.

To further this mission and put resources into the most appropriate platforms, we have begun to deploy a uniformed marketing strategy. This consists of thought leadership articles, our company blog, relevant social media channels, Q&As, and community-driven video content that will help extend our representation beyond our attendance at industry events. While we wholeheartedly appreciate our supporters in the broader online communities, our attention is focused on winning the hearts and minds of experts in freight and logistics. After all, they will eventually become our paying customers, long-term loyalists, and ultimately, the people that make this business a success.

In addition, we look forward to continuing our lobbying work with Congressional leaders and their offices. This work focuses on helping clarify regulations surrounding blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and their applications to the logistics industry as a whole. We know and believe regulation is vital in order for platforms like ours to succeed over the long term.

Conclusion

As we wrap up a few of our initial pilot programs, gear up to start selling our product, and continue attending industry events to build meaningful business development relationships, we hope the end of the year feels as rewarding for you and your own initiatives as it does for us. Our team, which now includes over 22 employees and several contractors, agencies, and advisors, is frankly incredible. We feel so lucky to be working on such a forward-thinking project with such early traction and undeniable viability.

Thank you for all your support. We would not be able to tackle such a monumental vision without you, and our ShipChain community at large.

—

The ShipChain Team

Upcoming Events

As you all know, we love having the opportunity to meet and connect with other community members! Our events page provides a glimpse at where we’ve been recently, and where we’ll be the next few months. If you’re in the area, we’d love for you to stop by.

P.S. – Here are two of our favorite thought leadership pieces from our very own leadership team. Enjoy!

3 Lessons In Efficiency I Learned Working In Logistics

3 Lessons I Learned About Running A Business From Watching My Dad Become A Fortune 500 Executive

Shepherding the Blockchain Ecosystem with Industry Chains