BMJ Score: 4.1
Market
Transparency
Team
Token
Adoption
Quick Summary
127 crypto investors read thisCommentary
The data market is worth approximately $3 trillion and is continuously expanding. Relying on inaccurate, low-quality data causes businesses to incur losses based on poor assumptions. We like that Dataeum uses humans as an instrument of data collection and are even more impressed that Dataeum already has an operational mobile app. Dataeum goes beyond leveraging blockchain to store data incorporating advanced AI to improve and optimize the data collection process. We see many strong use cases with Dataeum’s solution, but worry that it will take some advanced marketing and time to grow their user base. We are confident that Dataeum has a strong, experienced team dedicated to the project. Despite big name advisors like Anders Larsson and Simon Cocking, it might be hard to expect immediate results from Dataeum. Time will tell, but Dataeum might prove to be worth the wait as a long-term investment.
Investment Information:
- How to invest: In order to participate, you must first register on Dataeum’s website at the following link.
- Discount: The bonus will start at 30% and decrease by 5% every week during the pre-sale until it reaches 10%.
- Eligibility: Dataeum Tokens (XDT) shall not be marketed, offered, or sold to the residents of the People’s Republic of China (excluding the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, and Taiwan), South Korea, Japan, The United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and any other possessions of the United States.
- Token Price: 1 ETH = 12 000 XDT
- Jurisdiction: Dataeum is duly incorporated and exists under the laws of Republic of Estonia.
- Minimum contribution accepted: ETH= 0.2, BTC= 0.01, USD= $100
Market: 4
- Problem addressed/solved: With a $3 trillion market, there is a growing need for data collection done in a secure way to eliminate the exploitation of data exchange. Despite its importance, physical data remains difficult to collect and qualify, and a huge gap exists between the data that is delivered to maps and how they are generated. Such is the case for physical stores. In the U.S., at least 40% of them have at least one incorrect or missing address listed online, leading to lost sales. Furthermore, 80% of online listings for top retailers display inconsistent, inaccurate or missing data. When it comes to Facebook, 90% of physical data is either inconsistent or missing, and 75% for Google+. Only 8% of map pin placements are correct. With Dataeum, a distributed workforce of collectors is incentivized via XDT tokens to submit physical data.
- Target customers/customer/ segments/verticals: The first target customers for Dataeum will be the data collectors who gather physical data and transfer it to the marketplace for XDT in return. The first market players to interact with the marketplace and data licensing will be companies offering navigation services or maps looking for geo-located data such as Google, Here, Apple, YP, TomTom, Bing, Foursquare, etc.; companies offering products and services for physical/local businesses such as Groupon, Kompass, Deliveroo, etc.; and B2B data brokers like Factual, Axciom, Infogroup, etc., who are looking for physical data attributes for various uses such as mailing, emailing, listing, telemarketing, and statistics.
- Value creation: Using crowdsourcing, Dataeum’s solution allows those who collect and generate data to be rewarded. Data will then be accessible for use within a decentralized marketplace, according to the different needs of each market player such as navigation services, B2B prospecting, listings updates, telemarketing, statistics, etc. Dataeum aims to become a reference for all market players dealing with physical data, enabling them to drastically reduce data acquisition costs by using one trusted provider who offers enhanced accuracy and transparency for data collection.
- Competition: Shared data has been one of the most popular applications for blockchain thus far, and Dataeum excels in that their use of blockchain removes intermediaries and leverages smart contracts to ensure data is transparent, verified, and updated. That said, plenty of competition awaits Dataeum and its team. A saturated market could slow down the progress of Dataeum if they cannot make a name for themselves early on in the process. Dataeum has an advantage compared to other projects as their user base on DenDen will likely transfer to Dataeum, which could help spark their growth and adoption.
- Market size/potential: According to the World Economic Forum, the data market is now estimated to be worth more than 3 trillion dollars. Data has developed into a commodity for major companies as corporations view it as a direct form of value creation. The value of the data market will only increase as more IoT devices, people, and machines generate more data for companies to use in their evaluation metrics.
- Regulatory risks: The data collection market is inherently risky, with regulation in the space (such as the EU’s GDPR) continuing to expand to protect consumers.
Transparency: 3.5
- Investor value: The XDT tokens will grow in value as more data acquirers join the Dataeum decentralized marketplace and demand the data that’s available, paying with XDT tokens.
- Disclosures: Although Dataeum provides a lesser number of documents, they still found a way to effectively disclose their company information in a manner better than some projects with upwards of 5-8 documents. Their white paper has 48 pages that are easy on the eyes and communicate the important aspects of the company. All 14 team members have descriptive bios and associated LinkedIn pages. The roadmap found in the whitepaper leaves no doubt as to which direction the company is headed. It also doesn’t hurt that they have had a functional mobile app for the past two years.
- Token distribution: 50% of the XDT tokens will be issued and for sale during the TGE, 30% will be put in reserve in order to finance the collectors and boost future services, and 20% will be redistributed among the different partners, team members, advisors, and bounty program.
- Use of proceeds: Platform development 45%, operational development and data collection financing 25%, marketing and communication 20%, and OPEX and other expenses 10%.
- Caps: No indication of a soft cap: hard cap set at 35,000 ETH
Team: 5
- Track record: The co-founders of Dataeum are actually brothers, Charly Pham and Billy Pham, who have previously founded two successful ventures prior to starting Dataeum. Their most recent company, DenDen, had the same mission as Dataeum, namely, to improve local data generation and visibility. The two brothers figured that crowdsourcing was the answer and shortly after the creation of DenDen, the company had raised thousands of dollars from angels. They decided to pivot to blockchain in order to achieve greater transparency and issue tokens as a means to cut fees and reward collectors. The CPO/CMO, Michael Trajkovic, co-founded Kroknet and served as an Entrepreneurship Advisor for a company in France. The 14-member Dataeum team packs a powerhouse of entrepreneurial talent.
- Integrity: Not only are the co-founders brothers, but they already founded two successful companies before pivoting to Dataeum. A strong working relationship between the brothers has clearly been established, and it appears that their chemistry has led and will continue to lead them to prosperity. It also helps when a few other members of the team have entrepreneurial backgrounds as well. The proven chemistry of the co-founders and focus on entrepreneurship should instill trust in the minds of investors.
- Charly Pham, CEO (LinkedIn)
- Billy Pham, COO (LinkedIn)
- Michael Trajkovic, CPO / CMO (LinkedIn)
- Alain Rabahi, CTO (LinkedIn)
Team Members
Token Mechanics: 4.5
- MVP: The mobile application is already available in an Alpha version. It is dedicated to the collection of one of the main components of physical data: physical stores. This solution has been tested in three major European cities (Barcelona, London, and Paris). Dataeum has an incredible chart describing the objectives of each test and the subsequent results in their white paper, page 11. The blockchain platform, however, is not scheduled to be released until late 2019.
- Token use case: The XDT token is a utility token that enables its holder the ability to use the specific functionalities of the Dataeum platform. The token will be the basis of the exchange within the whole network. It will enable interaction among various services and reward collectors for participation in data collection.
- Value-added: All players interact within the ecosystem using the XDT token, which means that XDT is a necessity when using the platform. XDT as a token adds value to the project via removal of bank fees involved with fiat money and the democratization of access to data for all players.
- Decentralization: Dataeum looks to bring transparency and accuracy to the data generation through a decentralized process.
- Token Supply: Max supply of 1 billion XDT
User Adoption: 2.5
- Technical difficulty/investment expertise needed: The concept of big data collection typically doesn’t come easy as it’s a young and untapped sector at the moment. Dataeum provides a user-friendly video on YouTube that explains the gist of the project so that investors have a general idea of how exactly everything will function.
- Halo effect: Dataeum lists a solid set of 10 different partners, but they only relate to blockchain or ICO advisory for the most part. It appears that Dataeum wants to combine its platform with other projects to either enhance the experience for the user or propel the project forward at a much quicker pace.
- Buzz: Dataeum has generated a slightly below average level of buzz. Their Telegram holds the most members of their social media platforms with 5,487 followers. Their Facebook and Twitter accounts each have just over 4,000 followers. Although Dataeum has been featured in the media, it’s mostly via lower tier new sites like CryptoCoinsNews, Irish Tech News, and CNBC Africa. Dataeum will need to step up its marketing game to achieve the results the project needs to be successful.
