The entrepreneurial company Kiip, started by Asgeir Sognefest and Maren Sognefest, has joined Klein Group as a lead investor in an ongoing financing round. But they have already chiseled out their long-term goal: to challenge the world's giants in payment intermediation using blockchain technology.
The entrepreneurial company Kiip, started by Asgeir Sognefest and Maren Sognefest, has joined Klein Group as a lead investor in an ongoing financing round. But they have already chiseled out their long-term goal: to challenge the world's giants in payment intermediation using blockchain technology.
When Kaupr asks Asgeir Sognefest about whom Kiip aims to challenge, he mentions PayPal, Venmo and Vipps But he also confirms that the solution will in principle be able to challenge all key players in payment intermediation, both card companies such as Visa and Mastercard, and payment solutions from technology giants such as Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Kiip is in many ways a customer- and demand-driven solution: -- Many mainstream businesses see the benefits in adopting blockchain technology, for example related to loyalty or efficiency. But they find even that challenging, such as having to deal with a wallet like Metamask, or having to take charge of the blockchain or smart contracts. With our solution, they get rid of it. When we demonstrated Kiip for companies and projects, almost everyone said “we also want that in our solution or application”, says Sognefest.
Formally, Kiip represents a name change and a continuation of the technology behind Kryptofi, a wallet that for end users will be able to act like other wallets, such as Vipps, but that below the surface adopts blockchain technology to make this possible. But Kiip, as now appears with a new website, also implies a new venture towards businesses.
Kiip aims to deliver a cost-effective and easy-to-use infrastructure for payment intermediation based on blockchain technology to ordinary businesses. This should be possible without the need for enterprise customers or their customers to know blockchain technology themselves (or even know that blockchain technology is in use) and without Kiip needing access to the companies' or end-customers' assets. So far no one else has been able to do this.
The normal thing is that either a business customer has to build blockchain expertise themselves, or the company has to give a third party access to corporate and end customer funds. In Kiip's non-custodian solution, a business need do neither. Kiip can take charge of the blockchain-specific, without needing any visibility into companies' or customers' funds. This unique solution also contributes to reduced costs, as the role of intermediaries is reduced.
Asgeir Sognefest will not at this time tell exactly how Kiip has achieved this, as the company is now in an important development phase leading up to launch later this year. But with its solution, Kiip will be able to easily bring completely ordinary web2 businesses, whether named Nikita, XXL or Kiwi, into a web3 world. Current uses that Kiip has tentatively identified include loyalty programs, where a business can reward its customers with token-based points. Another is marketplaces, where, for example, in a gaming marketplace, it may be possible for players to buy and sell digital assets as a shield, using tokens. This can save both the buyer, seller and the marketplace from greater transaction costs.
In particular, companies and projects that have an in-app economy will be able to facilitate large savings for themselves and for their customers by exchanging card payments with token-based settlements. But Sognefest also paints an exciting picture of the future where businesses and consumers can eventually take part in a more or less complete token-based economy. Here we present a possible customer scenario:
Thus, the consumer can quickly get started both in owning, buying and selling digital assets, and eventually taking part in a growing digital economy.
Currently Kiip consists of Asgeir Sognefest, who is general manager and responsible for development, and Maren Sognefest, who is responsible for marketing, finance, administration and user experiences. Once the ongoing financing round is completed, the company will recruit a developer who will be given the primary responsibility for development, allowing Asgeir Sognefest to focus more on business development and corporate governance, in addition to blockchain technology.
Given Kiip's current size, Sognefest admits the company's goals are hairy:
Yes, absolutely. But what we're going to do is launch globally when we first launch. We have a unique solution, and no technical debt. So over time we will challenge the greats. That's the goal,” says Sognefest, who is by no means a novice as a blockchain developer.
He has 10 years of experience in spacet, including as co-founder of DorG., a decentralized organization that currently has 60 blockchain developers affiliated. Since 2018, dorG has provided blockchain expertise to Gnosis, Opera, Etoro, The Ethereum Foundation and Amnesty International, among others.
The entrepreneurial company Kiip, started by Asgeir Sognefest and Maren Sognefest, has joined Klein Group as a lead investor in an ongoing financing round. But they have already chiseled out their long-term goal: to challenge the world's giants in payment intermediation using blockchain technology.
The entrepreneurial company Kiip, started by Asgeir Sognefest and Maren Sognefest, has joined Klein Group as a lead investor in an ongoing financing round. But they have already chiseled out their long-term goal: to challenge the world's giants in payment intermediation using blockchain technology.
When Kaupr asks Asgeir Sognefest about whom Kiip aims to challenge, he mentions PayPal, Venmo and Vipps But he also confirms that the solution will in principle be able to challenge all key players in payment intermediation, both card companies such as Visa and Mastercard, and payment solutions from technology giants such as Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Kiip is in many ways a customer- and demand-driven solution: -- Many mainstream businesses see the benefits in adopting blockchain technology, for example related to loyalty or efficiency. But they find even that challenging, such as having to deal with a wallet like Metamask, or having to take charge of the blockchain or smart contracts. With our solution, they get rid of it. When we demonstrated Kiip for companies and projects, almost everyone said “we also want that in our solution or application”, says Sognefest.
Formally, Kiip represents a name change and a continuation of the technology behind Kryptofi, a wallet that for end users will be able to act like other wallets, such as Vipps, but that below the surface adopts blockchain technology to make this possible. But Kiip, as now appears with a new website, also implies a new venture towards businesses.
Kiip aims to deliver a cost-effective and easy-to-use infrastructure for payment intermediation based on blockchain technology to ordinary businesses. This should be possible without the need for enterprise customers or their customers to know blockchain technology themselves (or even know that blockchain technology is in use) and without Kiip needing access to the companies' or end-customers' assets. So far no one else has been able to do this.
The normal thing is that either a business customer has to build blockchain expertise themselves, or the company has to give a third party access to corporate and end customer funds. In Kiip's non-custodian solution, a business need do neither. Kiip can take charge of the blockchain-specific, without needing any visibility into companies' or customers' funds. This unique solution also contributes to reduced costs, as the role of intermediaries is reduced.
Asgeir Sognefest will not at this time tell exactly how Kiip has achieved this, as the company is now in an important development phase leading up to launch later this year. But with its solution, Kiip will be able to easily bring completely ordinary web2 businesses, whether named Nikita, XXL or Kiwi, into a web3 world. Current uses that Kiip has tentatively identified include loyalty programs, where a business can reward its customers with token-based points. Another is marketplaces, where, for example, in a gaming marketplace, it may be possible for players to buy and sell digital assets as a shield, using tokens. This can save both the buyer, seller and the marketplace from greater transaction costs.
In particular, companies and projects that have an in-app economy will be able to facilitate large savings for themselves and for their customers by exchanging card payments with token-based settlements. But Sognefest also paints an exciting picture of the future where businesses and consumers can eventually take part in a more or less complete token-based economy. Here we present a possible customer scenario:
Thus, the consumer can quickly get started both in owning, buying and selling digital assets, and eventually taking part in a growing digital economy.
Currently Kiip consists of Asgeir Sognefest, who is general manager and responsible for development, and Maren Sognefest, who is responsible for marketing, finance, administration and user experiences. Once the ongoing financing round is completed, the company will recruit a developer who will be given the primary responsibility for development, allowing Asgeir Sognefest to focus more on business development and corporate governance, in addition to blockchain technology.
Given Kiip's current size, Sognefest admits the company's goals are hairy:
Yes, absolutely. But what we're going to do is launch globally when we first launch. We have a unique solution, and no technical debt. So over time we will challenge the greats. That's the goal,” says Sognefest, who is by no means a novice as a blockchain developer.
He has 10 years of experience in spacet, including as co-founder of DorG., a decentralized organization that currently has 60 blockchain developers affiliated. Since 2018, dorG has provided blockchain expertise to Gnosis, Opera, Etoro, The Ethereum Foundation and Amnesty International, among others.
