Here's How an Indian Blockchain Startup is Fixing a Major Glitch in US-Lending Industry The blockchain startup, which was founded Mayank Tewari and Prerit Srivastava last year, has raised $1 million from Accel Partners
By Vanita D'souza •
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Call it internet 2.0 or web 3.0, blockchain is here to stay. The underlying technology behind bitcoin is expected to be disrupting several redundant backend processes bringing in transparency and building customer trust.
In fact, it is widely dubbed that 2019 is the year of blockchain startups. As we use cases and pilots have started to mature, relevant companies will gain more attention from the ecosystem's stakeholders and from here, there will be no looking back for tech startups.
One such company gaining attention is Streamsource. The blockchain startup, which was founded Mayank Tewari and Prerit Srivastava last year, has raised $1 million from Accel Partners.
The startup operates as a private blockchain platform based on Quorum which allows lenders to access potential borrower data with data privacy in mind. But Streamsource didn't happen to Tewari and Srivastava overnight.
The Inception
The founders were eyeing this space since 2017. They spent several months working with blockchain companies and their initial coin offering aka ICOs. This experience deepened their knowledge around blockchain and helped them understand how to work around the technology.
It was also during this period, the duo started speaking to lenders in the US market and realised there was a demand to the decentralised marketplace where data could be shared privately without compromising its security.
Blockchain here seems to be an obvious solution. "This is a pretty known business problem, which wasn't solved till now. With the current technologies and centralised systems, it is still difficult to solve. After some research and due diligence around the blockchain, we started Streamsource in 2018," Srivastava added.
All About Data Security
In simple terms, the platform is a permission system where only known parties can access data.
"With Stream source, we aren't changing the lending process. Instead, we are helping lenders do what they are presently doing in an efficient manner. We are a technology facilitator which helps lenders use customer data more efficiently and pitch products across the spectrum."
Talking about the focus on US market over the domestic market, he says the former is a more matured marketplace as against India.
Give an example, the techpreneur noted that, "The credit scoring system in the US is much more advanced as against in India wherein the penetration levels are poor. Additionally, the processes here are not standard making it more difficult to operate on decentralised platforms like ours."
For 2019, the company plans to continue expanding its wings in the US market and see what new shores can be conquered.
