Share this article

IBM, Comcast Back New Blockchain Startup Fund

IBM and Comcast Ventures are backing a blockchain investment fund aiming to scale early stage start-ups focused on enterprises.

Updated Sep 13, 2021, 7:21 a.m. Published Jan 8, 2018, 10:00 a.m.
IBM

Tech giant IBM and the venture arm of telecoms conglomerate Comcast are backing an investment fund focused on scaling early stage startups that help enterprises use blockchain technology.

MState, a startup accelerator, aims to invest in blockchain startups globally and ultimately connect them with Fortune 500 customers, co-founder Rob Bailey told Bloomberg.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters

The accelerator is seeking to invest $25,000–$50,000 each in five or six companies in the next six months, he added.

Bailey said:

"There's a massive opportunity in Fortune 500 companies. They don't know which companies to work with."

Under the arrangement, Comcast Ventures is offering funding, while IBM will provide services to MState.

Janine Grasso, vice president for blockchain strategy and ecosystem development at IBM, said that the tech company might also help entrepreneurs who "don't make the cut for MState."

MState is also backed by Boldstart Ventures and Galvanize, a press release states.

"In 2018, we will see a growing number of enterprise blockchain use cases go mainstream from healthcare applications to government, supply chain and retail to the real estate and transportation industries," Bailey stated.

IBM image via Shutterstock

More For You

Protocol Research: GoPlus Security

GP Basic Image

What to know:

  • As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
  • GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
  • Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.

More For You

Eric Trump's American Bitcoin and Anthony Pompliano's ProCap Add to BTC Holdings

Eric Trump speaks at Consensus 2025 in Toronto (CoinDesk)

The shares of both bitcoin-related firms are posting modest early gains Wednesday, but remain sharply lower over the past several days.

What to know:

  • American Bitcoin (ABTC) added 416 bitcoin in the past week, raising its holdings to 4,783 coins.
  • ProCap Financial (BRR) — whose SPAC merger was completed last week — marginally lifted its holdings to 5,000 bitcoin.