Microsoft Innovation Center Partners with æternity to Support Blockchain Startups in Malta

MALTA, Nov. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (via Blockchain Wire) -- æternity, the next-generation, open-source blockchain for building decentralized applications, today announced a partnership with Microsoft Innovation Center (MIC) to support the growth of blockchain technology in Malta. Through this partnership, æternity's investment arm, AE Ventures, and Microsoft will host regular blockchain events in Malta to promote the country's positioning as a friendly jurisdiction for blockchain businesses to launch and incorporate. 

"After all the hype there has been about blockchain in recent years, now is the time to demystify all the doubts there could still be about this technology. We are very proud to have æternity on board as our second Microsoft Innovation Center partners," said Mary Downing, Manager of Microsoft Innovation Center. "Having æternity promote and nurture blockchain startups from the Microsoft Innovation Center will not only bring a more flexible development of new technology but will also be an opportunity to promote blockchain as a tangible technology that brings real value."

The first event hosted by Microsoft Innovation Center and AE Ventures will be a weeklong intensive training program for blockchain startups. æternity Starfleet, a global accelerator program, reviewed more than 100 blockchain startups from around the world and invited 15 to participate in the program, which begins November 4, 2019. This training program will provide high-quality instruction, content, lectures and workshops led by industry experts, and is specially designed to give early-stage blockchain startups the practical knowledge to succeed in business and product development. The program also provides a deep-dive into the æternity blockchain, including its features and programming language.

Following the Starfleet global acceleration program, 10 startups will be selected for an additional five weeks of mentorship. This will culminate with a Demo Day at which selected teams will win an investment offer of up to $100,000 USD in AE tokens and an additional six months of mentorship and acceleration. These startups will gain access to a vast worldwide network of ambassadors, experts, developers, mentors, investors, and events in the æternity community. 

"We are excited to be partnering with the Microsoft Innovation Center and we see this as the next step in æternity's global policy," said Jarek Bialek of AE Ventures. "Malta is a great place for developing blockchain ideas and bringing them to life, this is why we believe that more Starfleet alumni will choose to incorporate their companies here." 

About æternity 
æternity is a public, open-source, blockchain platform offering means for a decentralized future realized by a global community. Blockchain inherently has the disruptive potential to support distributed wealth and transparency in power structures. æternity aims to solve problems of scalability, security, be more economical, and user-friendly when it comes to accessing the smart contracts on the network. For more information, please visit www.aeternity.com

About AE Ventures
AE Ventures is an investment company providing initial funding, acceleration and advisory support to blockchain projects. The company also runs æternity Starfleet - a full-service global acceleration program for seed-stage startups utilizing blockchain. For more information, please visit www.aeventures.io and www.aeternitystarfleet.com. 

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