The NEM.io Foundation, the creator of the NEM blockchain platform, has planned to spend US$40 million in the year to come to fuel global expansion, the organization said today. US$5 million will be allocated towards supporting blockchain companies incubated in the Blockchain Center.

Scheduled to open in August 2017, the 10,000-square-foot Blockchain Center will be located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and will serve as an incubator, accelerator and co-working space.

The facility will house the NEM Blockchain Innovation Lab, a headquarters for research and development as well as regional support for organizations interested in using the NEM platform within their IT infrastructures.

The Blockchain Center is an initiative of the NEM.io Foundation and Blockchain Global, an Australian blockchain company. The two organizations unveiled a strategic alliance today aimed at expanding NEM’s reach as well as facilitate mainstream adoption of blockchain technology globally.

“The opening of a non-profit blockchain center in Malaysia allows both Blockchain Global and NEM to pursue our missions to foster mainstream innovation and adoption internationally,” said Sam Lee, CEO of Blockchain Global. “We’re proud to work with the NEM.io Foundation, as we believe their blockchain technology platform is the future standard for mainstream enterprise and organizational infrastructures.”

Other initiatives part of the partnership include the development of a cryptocurrency exchange for the NEM ecosystem. Blockchain Global previously built ACX.io, Australia’s largest Bitcoin exchange by volume.

“We’re excited to partner with Blockchain Global in this rapidly evolving blockchain ecosystem,” said Lon Wong, president of the NEM.io Foundation. “This strategic alliance will fuel expanded reach, deeper collaboration, and multiplication of value as we journey towards developing blockchain hubs around the world.”

Based in Singapore, the NEM.IO Foundation is a non-profit organization focusing on promoting NEM’s blockchain technology globally.

Launched in 2015, NEM is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency and a blockchain platform that has introduced several new features to blockchain such as its proof-of-importance algorithm, multisignature accounts, encrypted messaging and a reputation system.

The NEM blockchain software is used in a commercial blockchain called Mijin, which is owned and developed by Japanese startup Tech Bureau, the company behind Bitcoin exchange Zaif.

Mijin has been utilized and tested by several financial institutions and private companies in Japan and internationally including Hitachi, Infoteria and Japan’s largest trust bank SBI Sumishin Net Bank.

The NEM cryptocurrency (XEM) is currently the sixth largest in the world by market capitalization at US$1.49 billion. XEM is now trading at 0.1659 USD/XEM, up 4,779% since the beginning of the year.