Irish firm headed to Swiss ‘crypto valley’ for accelerator programme

Irish company ServBlock has won a place in an accelerator programme in Switzerland designed to help distributed ledger technology start-ups thrive.

The Dublin-based company, which uses blockchain or distributed ledger technology to ensure traceability, privacy and transparency in pharmaceutical and healthcare supply chains, will take part in CV Labs' incubation programme, which will bring it to the heart of "crypto valley" in Zug, Switzerland.

The programme gives companies access to mentors, and successful entrepreneurs, and potentially up to $135,000 in investment through CV VC.

"We get the start-up playbook where we get a lot of connections, it will help us refine our pitching skills, help us refine our advertising and marketing skills. It gives us the skills to get out there and really hit the ground running," cofounder and chief executive John Ward said.

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Established in 2021, ServBlock uses a mixture of blockchain technology, or distributed ledger technology, to ensure that contract manufacturing organisations operate with the same integrity as in-house manufacturing.

Consultancy services

Mr Ward came up with the idea at the start of the pandemic, when he was working in a consultant capacity in the pharmaceutical industry overseas.

“I was over there carrying out these manual paper-based tasks that I realised could probably be done remotely and more importantly, digitally,” he said. “That led us into looking at blockchain and how blockchain can solve this issue. Our key selling point isn’t around being a blockchain company; it’s about just solving the issue. Blockchain is just the way it enables us to solve that issue.”

ServBlock initially provided consultancy services to larger pharmaceutical companies while it was developing its own software. That software is now fully developed and is about to launch at a number of sites across Europe, and the company is in the process of finalising deals.

It presents the data to the sponsor company within a role-based dashboard, with audit and compliance activities managed from a central command centre that enables pharmaceutical companies to connect, collaborate and drive measurable improvements with supply chain partners.

The programme provides the Irish company with a significant opportunity to gain investment and boost its growth.