LabStart is a blockchain-based investment platform that aims at reassessing the way
innovations are funded. Our goal is to allow anyone to invest directly in the innovation projects
presented on the platform - thanks to LabCoin - and to allow investors to own a share of
the project’s resulting patents. Thus, it offers a secure and decentralized alternative to the
traditional innovation investment ecosystem.
Three main issues can be pointed out in the current system: the lack of funding for innovators,
the difficult processes used to access funds and the lack of safe places for individuals to invest
in innovation. LabStart aims at bridging the gap between people and the potential innovative
solutions, in order to answer our society’s growing challenges.
The blockchain and smart contracts technologies address those issues by providing an
accessible, distributed and controlled environment [1]. Once research and development results
in a patent, investors will hold a certain amount of intellectual property, calculated based on
the quantity of funds invested. As such, they will have decisional power over the outcome of
the innovation - sale of the patent, distribution of licences, etc. - according to the relevant
legal environment.
The whitepaper first addresses the current stakes of the innovation ecosystem and its limits.
We believe that LabStart, as a decentralized investment platform, is the relevant solution. To
support that, we will describe the organisation and technological specificities involved in its
development, promotion and operating activity.
‘The Internet of Money, Bitcoin, is releasing 50 years of pent up innovation in finance, because
it offers innovation without permission
INTRODUCTION
The LabStart project was initiated as a means for everyone, especially individuals, to invest
in the innovation sector with a secure, accessible and open platform based on the Ethereum
blockchain. Everybody will have the possibility to easily support innovative projects and
directly benefit from them. Apart from participating in thrilling new projects and helping shape
the future, investors will hold a certain number of shares in the resultant intellectual property.
As for the innovators, they will be able to bypass the innovation fundraising ecosystem that
currently narrows their possibilities [2]. In fact, innovation projects with patents filing can be
carried out by a wide variety of entities : start-ups, small to large companies, independent
laboratories and others. For commodity of use we will refer to any of these entities as project
team in this whitepaper.
Before delving any further into our project, please note that none of this would have been
possible without the infrastructure created by the Ethereum Foundation [3]. Special thanks
to Jean-François Boulicaut, Michel Colombo and Johann Stan for their precious advice and
expertise. We hope that this whitepaper will motivate the reader to partake in our growth
but also to push further and, possibly, see new opportunities for blockchain technology to
revolutionize our way of life.
Nowadays, private innovation investments can be split into two major categories [9] [10] :
Investments by big companies which have the ability to invest into their own R&D team, or
hiring a private research center in order to develop new products and patents for their own
benefits.
Investments through private investment centers which are connected to incubators and
business angels. These actors are linked to companies and startups which need fundraising to
develop their projects.
If one wants to invest in an early stage project, two options are available [11] :
On the one hand, one can indirectly invest through investment centers while having the
role of a business angel. This option is available only if one has contacts and a lot of money to
invest.
On the other hand, one can simply deposit money in the banks. They will invest your money
in stock markets or various sectors, including innovation, getting high ROI while giving one’s
little interest for using your money. During this investment process, many intermediaries take
advantage of the invested money as well, like investment companies or incubators.
Once innovation has been created, intellectual property ownership is guaranteed through
patents, which can be sold or licensed.
What is a patent?
‘A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention. In other words, a patent is an exclusive
right to a product or a process that generally provides a new way of doing something, or
offers a new technical solution to a problem. To get a patent, technical information about the
invention must be disclosed to the public in a patent application.
The patent owner may give permission to, or license, other parties to use the invention on
mutually agreed terms. The owner may also sell the right to the invention to someone else, who
will then become the new owner of the patent.’ [12]
What does it mean to ‘license a patent’?
‘Licensing a patent simply means that the patent owner grants permission to another
individual/organization to make, use, sell etc. his/her patented invention. This takes place
according to agreed terms and conditions (for example, defining the amount and type of
payment to be made by the licensee to the licensor), for a defined purpose, in a defined
territory, and for an agreed period of time.
Any entity wishing to have its project published on the LabStart Platform will have to provide
these essential information for investors to evaluate its nature and viability:
Detailed project-description including the object, references to existant datas if there are
any, general direction and brief explanation of the methods considered
Detailed description of the expected outcome
Team description
The amount of LabCoin needed
The distribution of shares between the project team and the investors
The expected schedule of the project divided in milestones
In order to preserve the quality of the projects, a part of the team is dedicated to a thorough
control process that will ensure all information provided are true. Also, we are planning to add
extra analyst services in the future.
After the ICO, LabCoins will be tradable on exchanges. We are currently in discussion with
Bittrex, HitBTC, EtherDelta, Kraken, Poloniex, and more to come.
At LabStart, our aim is to simplify and facilitate investment. Hence, it is essential for the life
of the platform that the LabCoin is easy to access and free flowing. Our priority is to make
partnership with the main exchanges so as to grant access to LabCoin to everyone.
For more information, visit;
Website: https://labstart.tech/
Telegraph: https://t.me/LabStart
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LabStartTech
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/labstart.tech/
ERC20: 0x60274C179A797A616b0377F6B22472E958e6DC95
