ICON Plus 2021 year in review and Looking Forward
As we have rounded out the new year, it seems a relevant time to discuss our progress, success, and appreciation of achievements in 2021 while also looking forward to the challenges and potential for 2022. It has been a very favorable year for us and we are delighted to share the highlights of the past year.
We want to personally thank everyone that has been part of the ICONPLUS CAPITAL journey, including all of our partnerships, leaders, and team members which we will detail below.
Growth and Expansion
We are pleased to share that we expanded in 2021 to reach six full time team members and nine associates and we are extremely proud of this. Although this may seem like small numbers compared to many groups, we want to emphasise that we seek very high quality members to the team and we look for the very best. We seek members who are skillful but also those that show a sense of professionalism, enjoyment of life, and can work sufficiently without micromanagement. Every member has been important to us as has put in the work to establish our growth.
We have also expanded into two locations around the world, with an office in London and team members in Dubai. We have immediate plans to set up an office in Dubai to supplement the growth we have seen in that region. Additionally, we are pleased to share that we will soon have some representation of the company in West Africa.
Portfolio Progress
In working directly with our portfolio companies, we are also pleased to say we have had an extremely high reputation of success among all of the projects and partnerships we have made. Projects like Zeitgeist, Opulous, Kalao, and Colony have landed successful launches and we are blessed to have been part of their journeys, with many more projects listed on our investments page. Only one project underperformed, which is Bumper Finance, whom we are working diligently to get them up to speed and perform well this year. One aspect of this is the launch of their utility protocol in the coming months, so we are anticipating a full rebound.
Overall we are extremely blessed to be part of many “root” projects that have not launched yet and are eager to have someone like ICONPLUS CAPITAL to guide them through the difficult steps to succeed. One particular project on the front lines for this is SubQuery Network, which will be launching soon. These early projects are where we find ICONPLUS CAPITAL strives best and can utilize strengths for projects to advance and launch properly.
Another aspect of our strategic growth is scaling out and doubling down on the capital business in general. We had originally been quite involved in working with nodes and setting up these nodes in collaboration with our partners and investors. After some consideration, we have shifted away from this and are focusing much more directly on capital management and project incubation. Part of our expansion reflects this strategic move in this direction.
Capital Management
Speaking directly into our financial records, we are also pleased to share not just an increase of growth but also of integrity and constitution. Our growth has allowed us to maintain much more liquidity with our partnerships and projects we are involved in. This gives our partners and investors much more peace of mind and stability as it keeps their books more liquid.
Too many VCs sell early, sell too much, or create complicated agreements with their partners that place them at a major disadvantage. Our liquidity helps us view a more long term goal of investment and therefore helps everyone succeed. Our position allows us to be much more strategic and remove the short term view.
With our combination of incubation and capital management, we have a rigorous outlook and checklist on how we work with projects in order for them to thrive. To do this, we look at a myriad of goals, metrics, and activity:
- Smart contract deployment of the project
- Community response and sentiment
- Incentives of holding the token
- Long term incentives of the project
- Number of coin holders
- Number and growth of the wallets
- Network users and transactions
- Trading volume over an extended period of time
- Delivery of roadmaps
- Timing of CEX listings
- GitHub or development activity if the project is public
- Quality of partnerships
We feel all of these (and more) are important to the overall health and success of our partnerships.
Technical Improvements
Last but most certainly not least, we are making some changes to the technicals and how we are viewed as a brand. We have been changing some things on our website to help reflect our image of how we are shown to the public. We want to be honest and transparent and our website helps show and reflect this. In addition, we have new and growing segments to our site including a knowledge page to learn more about our portfolio and partnerships.
Special Thanks
One of the most important aspects about ICONPLUS CAPITAL and building a brand of this nature is the incredible help we needed to get to this stage. We want to issue an immense thank you for all the main support we have received to position ourselves where we are today. We want to give a special, hearty thanks, to the following people:
- Sam Zou, founder of OnFinality and the SubQuery Network
- Hassan Benahmed of Kalao
- Elie Le Rest, CEO and Co-Founder of Colony Labs
- Logan Saether, Founder and CEO of Zeitgeist PM
- Lee Parsons, CEO of Opulous and Ditto Music
Disclaimer: All content shared on this website is for informational purposes only and is not professional or financial advice. Always consult a qualified financial advisor and do you own research before investing.