September 7th, 2021 – The Portuguese blockchain-based open innovation platform <a href="https://taikai.network" target="_blank">TAIKAI</a> raised €2m in a funding round led by FinLab EOS VC Fund. Existing investor <a href="https://brpx.com" target="_blank">Bright Pixel</a> and new investor <a href="https://www.portugalventures.pt/en/" target="_blank">Portugal Ventures</a> also participated in the round. The investment is a strategic move for the German VC Fund managed by C3 Management GmbH, since TAIKAI uses EOSIO, the leading open-source software originated by <a href="https://b1.com" target="_blank">Block.one</a>. The new funding will fuel international expansion in Europe and Brazil and the development of hiring solutions for companies and startups. <img src="https://taikai.azureedge.net/aTM07ce6wpCjZ3KYw6o1yIpC_PpIcJEwbj7P9fonzOk/rs:fit:800:0:0/aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3RhaWthaS1zdG9yYWdlL2ltYWdlcy81YTRiZTJmMC0wZmI2LTExZWMtODg4My04OTA0MTQ0MGY0MjNibG9i" style="width:800px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" /> The Portugal-based startup caught the C3 Management attention due to the use of their technology, but also to their potential of disrupting the hiring processes across the world. Founded in 2018, TAIKAI started as an open innovation platform, helping Portuguese companies reach new solutions and products through challenges to a community of developers, designers, and others. The pandemic brought them new opportunities since the lockdowns and remote work boosted the online format. Challenges can now address the needs of any company around the world and the solution can be developed by any innovator around the world too. Therefore, TAIKAI has grown and turned into a global open innovation platform with a community of more than 50,000 innovators. It also became a highly relevant, attractive pool of talent, which led to the company’s next step: disrupt hiring processes.  “We strongly believe blockchain technology can have a positive impact across industries. TAIKAI has enormous potential, not only because of its use of the EOSIO software but also for its ambition to become an integrated solution for innovation and hiring processes in any company, driven by an ambitious, talented team. It’s with great enthusiasm that we join this journey,” explains Theo Woik, Managing Partner of FinLab EOS VC Fund. Mario Alves, co-founder and CEO of TAIKAI, sees this round as an opportunity to create a strong ecosystem of innovation. “TAIKAI has been receiving support from the community since its inception and has already helped more than 100 global companies solve their innovation challenges. Now it is time to go further and have a wider impact on businesses, addressing two of their most urgent needs – innovation and recruitment. That is why we will launch in September an acceleration program for startups.” The Portuguese investors Bright Pixel and Portugal Ventures have also joined the new funding round, reinforcing the trust in TAIKAI’s team, solutions, and business strategy. Benjamin Júnior, head of investments at Bright Pixel, enhances that “The disruptive capacity of blockchain technologies is the order of the day, especially for its potential impact on several market segments. This vision of building a value proposition for the market was shared, from very early on, by the TAIKAI team and Bright Pixel, which, within the scope of its program, helped to create the MVP and followed the evolution of the product and the company. Thus, we are extremely pleased to see that the project has grown, attracted key national and international investors, and is now facing the challenge of reaching new markets. We are certain that the team with the help of these new partners will be up to the challenge”, says Frederico Santos, from Bright Pixel’s investment team. Rui Ferreira, Vice President of Portugal Ventures, also adds “We are delighted to add TAIKAI to the Portugal Ventures portfolio, helping to grow its solution and fostering a culture of innovation in businesses, SMEs and Startups. The team led by Mario Alves and Helder Vasconcelos will embark on a new stage of business development with help from Portugal Ventures and its know-how in expanding to new markets, revolutionising recruitment in Portugal and Europe with its platform, which already has over 50,000 developers. TAIKAI is yet another reference project in Portugal, aimed at becoming the next European tech hub." The funding round will support the international expansion and the development of hiring features. In order to do that, TAIKAI will grow its development, marketing and sales team to 24 people until the end of 2021. All job openings are available on the <a href="https://taikai.network/en/careers" target="_blank">careers’ website</a>. FinLab EOS VC Fund is a partnership between Block.one and FinLab, an investor in financial services technologies and blockchain globally.  <h3>About TAIKAI</h3><a href="https://taikai.network" target="_blank">TAIKAI</a>, founded in 2018, has the focus to create a talent marketplace to connect creators and companies, by crowdsourcing solutions for their challenges, using hackathons as a tool to find, test, validate new ideas, products and talent globally. Think Tinder for innovation and talent seeking. <h3>About C3 Management and FinLab EOS VC Fund</h3>C3 Management GmbH is an asset management company focused on managing venture funds which invest in exceptional blockchain technology companies worldwide. C3‘s mission is, among other things, to accelerate growth, development, and especially adoption of EOSIO-based blockchains and the EOSIO software. Towards this mission, C3 manages the FinLab EOS VC Fund, which is partly funded by Block.one and offers developers and entrepreneurs the funding they need to create community-driven businesses leveraging EOSIO. The EOS VC Fund focuses on early and growth stage technology companies and typically takes a minority equity stake. C3 operates worldwide and is located in Frankfurt, Germany.       <h3>About Block.one</h3>Block.one is an asset holding and investment company that creates, incubates, and invests in businesses that build trust in transactions, transparency in systems, and efficiency in how our world works. Through strategic capital allocation and pioneering business ventures, Block.one has funded more than 100 innovative entrepreneurs to date. Block.one is also the creator of EOSIO, a highly performant open-source blockchain software, built to support and operate safe, compliant and predictable digital infrastructures. For more information, please visit <a href="https://b1.com" target="_blank">Block.one</a>. <h3>About Bright Pixel</h3><a href="https://brpx.com" target="_blank">Bright Pixel</a> is an investment vehicle, founded in April 2016, with several mechanisms through which it actively supports and invests in early-stage projects of a technological nature. Among them, the 8 million euros fund, launched to invest in startups with operations centered in Portugal, stands out. <h3>About Portugal Ventures</h3>Portugal Ventures, a venture capital firm that is part of Portuguese promotional bank <a href="https://www.bpfomento.pt/pt/" target="_blank">Grupo Banco Português de Fomento</a>, has more than 140 portfolio companies and €184 million under management. It invests in startups in the pre-seed, seed and series A stages offering innovative solutions and with the potential to internationalise their business in the Digital, Engineering &amp; Industry, Life Sciences and Tourism sectors. Since 2012, Portugal Ventures has already invested €171 million in 180 new companies. To learn more, visit <a href="https://www.portugalventures.pt/en/" target="_blank">portugalventures.pt</a>. For more info, please contact: Ana Pedro T: (+351) 914 683 834 E: ana.pedro@thesquare.pt

Fundo alem&atilde;o reconhece tecnologia da startup portuguesa e o seu potencial para revolucionar os processos de recrutamento das empresas A TAIKAI est&aacute; a expandir a equipa e tem vagas para &aacute;reas de desenvolvimento de software, marketing e vendas Lisboa, 7 de setembro de 2021 - A <a href="http://taikai.network" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TAIKAI</a>, plataforma de inova&ccedil;&atilde;o aberta baseada em tecnologia blockchain, levantou uma ronda de 2 milh&otilde;es de euros liderada pelo fundo alem&atilde;o FinLab EOS VC Fund. A ronda conta tamb&eacute;m com a participa&ccedil;&atilde;o da <a href="https://www.portugalventures.pt" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Portugal Ventures</a>, enquanto novo investidor e da <a href="https://brpx.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bright Pixel</a>, que refor&ccedil;ou o investimento na startup. Com este valor, a empresa pretende escalar o neg&oacute;cio, entrar em novos mercados e refor&ccedil;ar a oferta de solu&ccedil;&otilde;es. Para isso, est&aacute; a recrutar para diversas posi&ccedil;&otilde;es e pretende chegar at&eacute; &agrave;s 24 pessoas ainda este ano. <img src="https://taikai.azureedge.net/kjtjINLvCk7kwjxj8lHbGYYQsx4K9gRlbnl7S1b0KxI/rs:fit:800:0:0/aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL3RhaWthaS1zdG9yYWdlL2ltYWdlcy82YTNmMjM3MC0wZmI2LTExZWMtODg4My04OTA0MTQ0MGY0MjNibG9i" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"> Em apenas tr&ecirc;s anos, a TAIKAI afirmou-se a n&iacute;vel nacional e internacional como uma plataforma de inova&ccedil;&atilde;o aberta, contando j&aacute; com in&uacute;meros desafios realizados para apoiar a inova&ccedil;&atilde;o em mais de 100 organiza&ccedil;&otilde;es de diferentes pa&iacute;ses, atrav&eacute;s da criatividade e da capacidade da comunidade de cerca de 50 mil programadores e criativos em todo o mundo. Apesar da pandemia, a startup tecnol&oacute;gica portuguesa n&atilde;o abrandou a sua opera&ccedil;&atilde;o, j&aacute; que o confinamento e o distanciamento social impulsionaram a ado&ccedil;&atilde;o do formato virtual das maratonas de programa&ccedil;&atilde;o (hackathons), tend&ecirc;ncia que acelerou o crescimento da TAIKAI al&eacute;m-fronteiras.&nbsp; Perante o sucesso da plataforma, a TAIKAI est&aacute; agora a desenvolver funcionalidades espec&iacute;ficas para apoiar tamb&eacute;m os processos de recrutamento das empresas, atrav&eacute;s dos desafios de inova&ccedil;&atilde;o.&nbsp;&ldquo;Esta ferramenta vai ao encontro das necessidades das grandes organiza&ccedil;&otilde;es, mas tamb&eacute;m das startups que, mais do que hard skills, desejam que haja um fit cultural entre empresa e o candidato&rdquo;, explica M&aacute;rio Alves, co-fundador e CEO da TAIKAI. &ldquo;Neste &acirc;mbito, estamos a criar um programa de acelera&ccedil;&atilde;o, que dever&aacute; arrancar j&aacute; em setembro, onde startups selecionadas ir&atilde;o utilizar a plataforma da TAIKAI para efeitos de inova&ccedil;&atilde;o e de recrutamento. Os primeiros projetos piloto est&atilde;o a decorrer e o feedback est&aacute; a ser bastante positivo&rdquo;. A ronda de dois milh&otilde;es ser&aacute; aplicada nesta estrat&eacute;gia de expans&atilde;o geogr&aacute;fica e de servi&ccedil;os da plataforma. &ldquo;Com este investimento, ser&aacute; poss&iacute;vel chegarmos a mais mercados, apoiando as empresas no processo de inova&ccedil;&atilde;o e recrutamento. Pretendemos apoiar tamb&eacute;m a evolu&ccedil;&atilde;o do ecossistema como um todo, fomentando uma cultura de inova&ccedil;&atilde;o constante que vai al&eacute;m das grandes empresas, alcan&ccedil;ando tamb&eacute;m as PMEs e startups de forma que este processo de inova&ccedil;&atilde;o esteja no seu ADN&rdquo;, acrescenta o respons&aacute;vel. Para o investidor alem&atilde;o C3 Management, este foi um investimento estrat&eacute;gico, uma vez que se insere no &acirc;mbito do seu fundo&nbsp;FinLab EOS VC de 100 milh&otilde;es de d&oacute;lares, focado no setor de blockchain. O fundo FinLab EOS VC conta com a <a href="https://b1.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Block.one</a> como investidor, empresa que desenvolveu o software de blockchain EOSIO utilizado pela TAIKAI.&nbsp; &ldquo;Acreditamos fortemente que a tecnologia blockchain pode ter um impacto positivo em todos os setores. A TAIKAI tem um enorme potencial, n&atilde;o s&oacute; pela utiliza&ccedil;&atilde;o do software EOSIO, mas tamb&eacute;m pela ambi&ccedil;&atilde;o de se tornar uma solu&ccedil;&atilde;o integrada de inova&ccedil;&atilde;o e processos de contrata&ccedil;&atilde;o em qualquer empresa, impulsionada por uma equipa ambiciosa e talentosa. &Eacute; com grande entusiasmo que nos juntamos a esta jornada &rdquo;, explica Theo Woik, Managing Partner do FinLab EOS VC Fund. O novo investidor junta-se assim ao board que conta j&aacute; com a presen&ccedil;a da portuguesa Bright Pixel. &ldquo;A capacidade de disrup&ccedil;&atilde;o das tecnologias de blockchain est&aacute; na ordem do dia, sobretudo pelo impacto que podem exercer em diversos segmentos do mercado. Esta vis&atilde;o de construir uma proposta de valor para o mercado, foi desde muito cedo partilhada pela equipa da TAIKAI e pela Bright Pixel que, no &acirc;mbito do seu programa, ajudou a criar o MVP e acompanhar a evolu&ccedil;&atilde;o do produto e da empresa. Neste sentido, &eacute; com extrema satisfa&ccedil;&atilde;o que constatamos que o projecto cresceu, atraiu investidores nacionais e internacionais de refer&ecirc;ncia, e tem agora pela frente o desafio de chegar a novos mercados. Temos a certeza que a equipa, com a ajuda destes novos parceiros, estar&aacute; &agrave; altura do desafio&rdquo;, afirma Frederico Santos da equipa de investimento da Bright Pixel. Tamb&eacute;m a Portugal Ventures, que se junta &agrave; TAIKAI pela primeira vez, coloca a sua confian&ccedil;a na equipa. Rui Ferreira, Vice-Presidente da Portugal Ventures indica: &quot;&Eacute; com enorme satisfa&ccedil;&atilde;o que integramos a TAIKAI no portef&oacute;lio da Portugal Ventures, e podermos contribuir para o crescimento da sua solu&ccedil;&atilde;o e na fomenta&ccedil;&atilde;o da cultura de inova&ccedil;&atilde;o nas empresas, PMEs e Startups. A equipa liderada por M&aacute;rio Alves e H&eacute;lder Vasconcelos ir&aacute; entrar numa nova fase de desenvolvimento do seu neg&oacute;cio com apoio e know-how da Portugal Ventures para a expans&atilde;o em novos mercados, e revolucionar o recrutamento em Portugal e na Europa atrav&eacute;s da sua plataforma que j&aacute; conta com mais de 50 mil developers e criativos. A TAIKAI &eacute; assim mais um projeto de refer&ecirc;ncia para o nosso pa&iacute;s que ambiciona tornar-se no pr&oacute;ximo hub tecnol&oacute;gico europeu.&rdquo; Mais informa&ccedil;&otilde;es sobre as oportunidades de carreira na TAIKAI dispon&iacute;veis <a href="https://taikai.network/en/careers" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">aqui</a>. <h3>Sobre a TAIKAI:</h3>A <a href="https://taikai.network" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TAIKAI</a>, fundada em 2018, tem como vis&atilde;o construir um marketplace de talento para conectar criadores e empresas atrav&eacute;s do crowdsourcing de solu&ccedil;&otilde;es para os seus desafios utilizando hackathons como uma ferramenta para testar e validar novas ideias, produtos e talento globalmente. Imagine o Tinder para inova&ccedil;&atilde;o e busca de talento. <h3>Sobre a Bright Pixel:</h3>A <a href="https://brpx.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bright Pixel</a> &eacute; um ve&iacute;culo de investimento, que nasceu em abril de 2016, que disp&otilde;e de v&aacute;rios mecanismos atrav&eacute;s dos quais apoia e investe ativamente em projetos early-stage de cariz tecnol&oacute;gico. Entre eles, destaca-se o fundo de 8 milh&otilde;es de euros, lan&ccedil;ado para investir em startups com opera&ccedil;&otilde;es centradas em Portugal. <h3>Sobre a C3 Management e o Fundo FinLab EOS VC:</h3>C3 Management GmbH &eacute; uma empresa de gest&atilde;o de capital de risco que investe em empresas excepcionais de tecnologia blockchain em todo o mundo. A miss&atilde;o da C3 &eacute; acelerar o crescimento, o desenvolvimento e, especialmente, a ado&ccedil;&atilde;o de blockchains baseadas em EOSIO e de software EOSIO. Para essa miss&atilde;o, o C3 gere o FinLab EOS VC Fund, parcialmente financiado pelo Block.one e que proporciona aos promotores e empreendedores o financiamento de que necessitam para criar neg&oacute;cios focados &nbsp;na comunidade, alavancando em EOSIO. O Fundo EOS VC concentra-se em empresas de tecnologia em early e growth stage e normalmente possui uma participa&ccedil;&atilde;o acion&aacute;ria minorit&aacute;ria. A C3 opera em todo o mundo e est&aacute; localizada em Frankfurt, Alemanha. <h3>Sobre a Block One:</h3>A Block.one &eacute; uma empresa gestora de ativos e de investimentos que cria, incuba e investe em neg&oacute;cios que geram confian&ccedil;a nas transa&ccedil;&otilde;es, transpar&ecirc;ncia nos sistemas e efici&ecirc;ncia no funcionamento do mundo atual. Atrav&eacute;s da aloca&ccedil;&atilde;o estrat&eacute;gica de capital e alavancando projectos empresariais pioneiros, a Block.one j&aacute; financiou mais de 100 empreendedores inovadores at&eacute; ao momento. A Block.one tamb&eacute;m &eacute; a criadora do EOSIO, um software blockchain de c&oacute;digo aberto de alto desempenho, desenvolvido para suportar e operar infra-estruturas digitais seguras, compat&iacute;veis e previs&iacute;veis. Para mais informa&ccedil;&otilde;es, visite <a href="https://b1.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Block.one</a>. <h3>Sobre a Portugal Ventures:</h3>A Portugal Ventures, sociedade de capital de risco que integra o <a href="https://www.bpfomento.pt/pt/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Grupo Banco Portugu&ecirc;s de Fomento</a>, tem sob gest&atilde;o 184 milh&otilde;es de euros e mais de 140 empresas no portef&oacute;lio. Investe em startups que criam solu&ccedil;&otilde;es inovadoras, com capacidade de internacionaliza&ccedil;&atilde;o, nas &aacute;reas de Digital, Engenharia &amp; Ind&uacute;stria, Ci&ecirc;ncias da Vida e Turismo, nas fases pre-seed, seed e series A. Desde 2012, a Portugal Ventures j&aacute; investiu 171 milh&otilde;es de euros em 180 novas empresas. Para saber mais, visite <a href="https://www.portugalventures.pt" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.portugalventures.pt</a>. &nbsp; <h3>Para mais informa&ccedil;&otilde;es:</h3>Ana Pedro<br style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(29, 28, 29); font-family: Slack-Lato, appleLogo, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;">T: (+351)&nbsp;914 683 834<br style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(29, 28, 29); font-family: Slack-Lato, appleLogo, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;">E: ana.pedro@thesquare.pt

TAIKAI closes €2m investment round for its hackathon and hiring management platform lead by FinLab EOS VC Fund

Fundo alemão reconhece tecnologia da startup portuguesa e o seu potencial para revolucionar recrutamento

German FinLab EOS VC Fund leads TAIKAI’s €2m funding round

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