ZrCoin, a research and production startup, has raised $7.07 million in cryptocurrency from 3,955 investors during their crowdfunding campaign.
The campaign was based on an ICO (Initial Coin Offering), a new technology for investing in projects using the blockchain.
The funds collected allow the launch of synthetic zirconium production. The primary goal of the campaign, which took place from 11 May to 9 June, was the collection of at least $3.5 million. High demand from investors led to additional financing, and the opportunity to increase production capacity.
Investors will receive ZrCoin tokens, which are hosted on the Waves blockchain platform and which can be transferred and traded on crypto exchanges. Each token is backed by 1kg of zirconium dioxide (ZrO2).
‘The volume of the funds raised was twice as high as we planned. This is a huge success for the first ICO of its kind on the market. Using blockchain technology, we secured financing quickly and efficiently. Our team thanks our investors and partners’, commented Andrey Nikonorov, co-founder of ZrCoin.
‘According to my estimates, the amount of funds raised by ICOs in 2017 will exceed $1 billion. More and more companies and startups are choosing this way of securing investment. Transparency and reliability of blockchain technology, and the wide possibilities of open information systems, lead to the creation of fundamentally new solutions that make easier the life for businesses and private users’, added Sasha Ivanov, founder of the Waves Platform.
‘Using a bespoke marketing strategy and effective communication with the online community, whose engagement is exceptionally high in such crowdfunding campaigns, we and the ZrCoin have established trust with our audience to create the first ever manufacturing application project in the cryptocurrency market. We encountered initial skepticism from some parts of the community, but investors’ interest was obvious – which the results of the campaign confirmed. I’m confident that the potential of the ICO as an effective fundraising tool for projects across all sectors of the economy will be made clear in the coming years,’ explained Vitaliy Tsygulev, CEO of the Digital Finance Agency, which implemented a comprehensive marketing and communication strategy for the crowdfunding campaign.
After starting production, the distributed tokens will be redeemed from investors at the market price of the final product. ZrCoin was sold at ICO at a starting price of $1.40, gradually increasing to $1.55 by the end of the crowdsale. Since the market price of zirconium dioxide is $2.80 per 1 kg, this provides a significant opportunity for investors who purchased it in the early stages. Investors can choose whether to sell their ZrCoin back to the company or on the open market, or to take physical possession of the zirconium that backs the token.
Investors were able to deposit using various currencies, including bitcoin, Litecoin, Waves and Ethereum. The breakdown of funds raised is as follows:
- 838,903 USD
- 950 BTC
- 670,290 WAVES
- 12,373 LTC
- 7,407 ETH
- 27,973 ETC.
You can find more detailed information about the project at https://zrcoin.io.
