Six blockchain startups take on new challenge from Ernst & Young

Ernst & Young, one of the world’s Big Four accounting firms, has announced that six startups will participate in its first blockchain-focused startup competition.

The six-week competition, which kicks off next week, will see the six startups work with mentors from the Big Four accounting firms to develop products for digital property rights management and energy trading.

Jamie Qiu, founder of the EY Entrepreneurship Competition, said the companies selected to participate demonstrate EY’s belief that blockchain has the potential to extend beyond the financial industry.

Qiu described two key points of the competition:

“There are two major areas that are ripe for change, and we believe blockchain has the potential to significantly improve productivity and transparency.”

The six startups selected are Adjoint, BitFury, BlockVerify, BTL Group LTD, JAAK, and Tallysticks.

Mentors include Oliver Thomas, head of strategy and digital at Viacom, Graham Davies, head of strategy and digital at PRS for Music, Matt Phipps-Taylor, head of strategy and innovation at PPL and Peter Walesby, vice president of finance at Discovery.

The competition deadline is October 20, and product samples will be displayed on the same day. The selected samples will have additional opportunities for product piloting with the support of Yongan.