This week, IBM and Comcast Ventures announced they have backed new blockchain startup fund, MState. Founded in 2017, MState is described as a growth lab for enterprise blockchain companies with locations in New York City and San Francisco. It will run a six-month program straiten gin February 2018 and will select five startups and work closely with them to grow successfully and close enterprise customers.
“MState is backed by IBM, Comcast Ventures, Galvanize and Boldstart Ventures, a first check enterprise investor based in NYC. The founding team of Rob Bailey and the partners from Boldstart Ventures have collectively helped scale 80+ enterprise-focused companies that have raised more than $1B in capital, had 30+ exits and 3 IPOs.”
Co-Founder of MState, Rob Bailey, stated to Bloomberg:
“Think of us as an earlier-stage scout fund for other funds. There’s a massive opportunity in Fortune 500 companies. They don’t know which companies to work with.”
Janine Grasso, Vice President for Blockchain Strategy and Ecosystem Development at IBM, shared with the media outlet that MState is “complementing” the company’s strategy. Other supports of MState are Galvanize and Boldstart. Applications are currently accepted until January 31st and the program is set to run from February 15th to August 16th.