Comcast, IBM to back blockchain investment fund

The Comcast Center in Center City.
Thom Carroll/PhillyVoice

Comcast's venture capital arm and IBM are set to support an investment fund for startups that help large companies use blockchain, a digital ledger that keeps a continuously growing list of linked and secured records.

Comcast Ventures will give funding to the investment fund, MState, while IBM will offer support services, Bloomberg first reported this week.

The companies will be MState's largest backers.


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Comcast, the Philadelphia-based telecommunications giant, said in June that it planned to use blockchain to help make video advertising more efficient.

The investment fund, MState, will invest between $25,000 and $50,000 each in five or six companies over the next six months, according to the Bloomberg report. The fund will target startups aiming to provide blockchain support and solutions to corporations across multiple industries, Business Insider noted.

MState, which has locations in New York and San Francisco, reportedly plans to connect its startups with Fortune 500 clients interesting in using blockchain.

The technology is at the heart of Bitcoin, the volatile cryptocurrency that experienced a dramatic rise and ensuing fall in the stock market last month.

A survey of nearly 400 founders, executives, managers or IT personnel, published in July by Juniper Research, found that nearly six in 10 large corporations were either considering or were in the process of using blockchain.

More on the move can be found here.