While many businesses are struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic, blockchain technology development studio BlockSpaces is moving forward with a new operating model, a new management team and a seed round of capital.
“Blockchain is poised for explosive growth,” said Gregory Pierce, BlockSpaces’ newly elected Operating Chairman of the Board. “I couldn’t be happier to be part of one the leading blockchain success stories in the country.”
BlockSpaces, which is based at Embarc Collective in downtown Tampa, was founded in 2017 by Gabe Higgins and Rosa Shores. The organization provides specialized education, development and support services in a collaborative learning community of innovators and early-stage entrepreneurs.
The new operating model is centered on a product-based business segment and will position the company to have a stronger emphasis on the development of their core Platform-as-a-Service. The platform, Harmonia, is aimed at midmarket companies who want to integrate blockchain with their legacy systems.
“BlockSpaces has always been a thought leader in the use of multiple blockchain technologies and I’m excited to be a part of their future,” said Chris Tyler, who was recently tapped as the company’s Chief Technology Officer. “Harmonia will simplify our customers’ adoption of blockchain by easily integrating the multiple systems and processes they use with a variety of blockchain networks, and will allow our customers to fully recognize the benefits promised by these networks.”
BlockSpaces co-founder Gabe Higgins said the new model will allow the company to be more nimble in pursuing growth opportunities to help meet their customers’ needs.
“We’ve been in this industry since 2012,” Higgins said. “Our mission has always been to accelerate the adoption of blockchain technology to transform business, industry and society,”
Over the past year, BlockSpaces has shifted its focus to internal product development of enterprise solutions, and raised $100,000 from local angel investor John Rasmussen in January. The company had just kicked off a seed round of investment in March when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closing of Embarc Collective. However, things are looking up, said Charles Dyer, BlockSpaces’ new Chief Operating Officer.
“Although the pandemic initially stalled the seed round in the first quarter, we have seen an uptick in interest around blockchain solutions,” Dyer said. “This has added a significant pipeline to our existing funnel and solidified product-market fit for our PaaS integration platform.”