Hedera Hashgraph has entered into a strategic partnership with Swiss Digital Assets Institute (SDAI) – a professional training and education company – for the delivery of a custom-designed global “Hashgraph Innovation Program” out of Switzerland. Hedera has earmarked USD 16.3M worth of hbar in grant funding to the newly established, non-profit Swiss Hashgraph Association for the ramp-up phase of their Hashgraph Innovation Program, to be delivered by SDAI. This training and innovation program is aimed at empowering innovative startups, enterprises, and government institutions around the world to design and develop enterprise-grade solutions and decentralized applications on the Hedera network
The Hedera network is owned and governed by the members of the Hedera Council, a group of the world’s leading organizations responsible for governing the network, operating nodes, and allocating the network’s treasury of hbars. Last year, the Council approved the allocation of 10.7 billion hbars (~20% of total supply), worth $5 billion at the time, to further the development of the Hedera ecosystem.
The Hashgraph Innovation Program is structured to be delivered over five years and in three implementation phases. Program participants that qualify and receive a grant from the Swiss Hashgraph Association will go through three development stages, beginning with 1. Learn & Discover (training and ideation workshops), followed by 2. Visualize & Design (design-thinking and proof-of-concept modeling) and concluding with 3. Develop & Deploy (minimum viable product development and integration). Startups with high-potential business plans will be eligible to receive grants in HBAR up to $250,000, enterprises up to $750,000, and government initiatives shall receive up to $1,500,000 in co-investment funding.
Brett McDowell, Chair of the Hedera Governing Council, said:
"As we enter the next phase of decentralization and growth of the Hedera network, the Governing Council continues to look for partner organizations that can help accelerate the adoption of our best-in-class public ledger globally. We recognize that Europe and The Middle East are important markets for innovative and disruptive DLT solutions. The founders of SDAI have experience bringing DLT innovation to those markets through a combination of education and incubation that leverages their network of influential partners across the region. We're delighted that SDAI chose to establish the Swiss Hashgraph Association as a major initiative to promote the adoption of Hedera-enabled solutions, starting with EMEA and expanding globally from there." In the foreground of the Swiss Hashgraph Association is the digital enablement of businesses and preserving decentralized technology structures for the global community through the adoption of leading-edge distributed ledger technologies (DLT), including funding training and innovation for the benefit of digital empowerment and wider financial inclusion, with a positive environmental, socioeconomic, and governance (ESG) impact.
Kamal Youssefi, President of the Swiss Hashgraph Association, who was previously an initial Governing Council representative for Swisscom Blockchain, said:
"We founded the Swiss Hashgraph Association to proactively empower the community, promote the growth of Hedera ecosystem projects and confirm our commitment towards enabling the build-up of a vibrant ecosystem for DLT transformations around the globe. In close collaboration with Hedera Hashgraph and the HBAR Foundation, the Swiss Hashgraph Association will identify initiatives with the highest potential and enable the development of the most promising projects – offering sizeable grants to empower pioneers, innovators, entrepreneurs, and startups, including assisting large corporations and government institutions to successfully launch their own decentralized solutions, while fostering synergies with other emerging technologies across multiple industry verticals." Shayne Higdon, CEO of HBAR Foundation, said:
"We are excited to support training and innovation programs via the HBAR Foundation to empower startups, enterprises, and institutions around the world. The Swiss Hashgraph Association will play a big part in fostering new innovation in DLT." Andreas Barraud, Governing Councilor and Chairman of Department of Economic Affairs Canton Schwyz, said
"It's our great pleasure to extend a warm welcome to Hedera Hashgraph and the newly founded Swiss Hashgraph Association in Switzerland. In close partnership with SDAI, we look forward to supporting the Hashgraph Innovation Program out of Canton Schwyz through our business-friendly environment and technology cluster as the launchpad for Hedera's global expansion plans." Stefan Deiss, Co-Founder & Director of SDAI, said:
"We are excited to bring Hedera Hashgraph to Switzerland and to contribute towards accelerating the broad adoption of the Hedera network, as one of the world's leading and most energy-efficient DLT platforms. We appreciate the endorsement SDAI has received from the Swiss Government through Canton Schwyz and look forward to delivering the Hashgraph Innovation Program, which is designed to promote broad adoption of Hedera and increase its total value locked (TVL) as well as boost its global developer community."
