23. cheqd – Fraser Edwards

cheqd is a technology scale-up company that provides a market-leading solution for data ownership and value creation. The platform delivers first of its kind payment rails, customisable commercial models and governance structures for trusted* (also referred as authentic) data, including self-sovereign identity (SSI).

SSI is a user-centric methodology for exchanging trusted data in a more secure manner. It is also widely believed to be the next generation of digital identities across open networks.

Focusing on interoperability and portability – the utilisation of information and services without users losing control of the information they shared – and through SSI technology, cheqd provides Web3 companies with the most effective way of managing digital identity.

In line with the decentralised, open and user-centric aspects of Web3, SSI removes the need to store personal information entirely on a central database, giving individuals greater control over what information they share safeguarding their privacy.

Co-founded and led by Chief Executive Officer Fraser Edwards and Chief Technology Officer Ankur Banerjee, cheqd’s mission is to give people and organisations the ability to control and understand the value of their own data. Founders – who met while working as analysts at Accenture in London – have spent the past seven years managing emerging technology projects and were selected to take part in Outlier Ventures’ Base Camp in spring 2021.

Through its network for decentralised identity vendors, cheqd disrupts established identity paradigms and creates new trusted data marketplaces. The scale of distribution in the SSI space is unmatched – through its strong community of partners, cheqd engages with companies in various different industries, which further demonstrates the endless areas of opportunity for the application of decentralised identity technology.

Its native utility token – $CHEQ – enables individuals to interact with organisations globally and for businesses to reap commercial benefits. In addition to data ownership, cheqd provides individuals and companies with a real-world financial incentive to share their data.

Key investors include Outlier Ventures, Evernym (recently acquired by Avast), Tendermint Ventures (the venture arm of Ignite, a core contributor to the Cosmos Network).

Since its launch, cheqd has been featured in titles, such as The Sunday Times, Bloomberg, The Guardian, Raconteur and The Fintech Times.

As a new player and disruptor cheqd biggest challenge was to earn trust and show how cheqd can help individuals and organisatiosn to get back their data. The company has just surpassed their nearest competitors within one year of launch (Hyperledger Indy, Sovrin) feature-wise and is seeing adoption accelerate through their partners.

cheqd latest ground-breaking updates make them the first and only most interoperable network for decentralised identity. It is the first and only network to support three major verifiable credential types (JSON, JSON-LD and AnonCreds), turbocharging decentralised identity adoption

Although application of the technology is welcome across centralised and decentralised worlds, this year cheqd is focusing on working with Web3 partners as one of their major industry verticals.