Dan Ward of Sia Partners quoted in the Charlotte Business Journal

1. How Charlotte's fintech scene is
leveraging student talent in blockchain
Tariq Bokhari, executive director of the Carolina Fintech Hub, makes opening remarks at Carolina
Fintech Hub’s inaugural Generation Blockchain Challenge at AvidXchange on Friday.
By Caroline Hudson – Staff Writer, Charlotte Business Journal
5 hours ago
Young entrepreneur Gabriel Gonzalez, of Raleigh, sees firsthand the benefits of networking
within the technology sphere. That’s one reason the Venezuelan immigrant and his
teammates decided to apply for Carolina Fintech Hub’s inaugural Generation Blockchain
Challenge.
Representing North Carolina State University, Gonzalez and his team pitched a platform
called Versity, which allows students to access their education records from anywhere at
any time.
“It not only helps us clear the validity and the viability of our concepts and ideas as a
startup, but putting us in the right ecosystem to help us build what we want to build,”
Gonzalez says. “It’s been about two months of hard, intense work.”

2. Dan Ward, associate partner at consulting firm Sia Partners, says he approached Carolina
Fintech with the challenge idea based on a similar event Sia sponsored in Paris last year.
More than 60 students from around the Carolinas submitted about 30 use cases for
enterprise blockchain. CFH then selected 10 teams to compete. First-, second- and third-
place teams will receive cash prizes of $6,000, $3,500 and $2,500, respectively.
“I knew what the formula was to do it, but we localized it to Carolinas,” Ward says. “We
did a deep-dive training for all 10 teams, and then from there they set out to take their idea
into a brief concept.”
Ward says the participating students are the only ones in the world now trained in
software company Oracle Corp.’s beta testing for cloud-based blockchain. Oracle was a main
sponsor of the challenge, along with AuraBlocks. Representatives from some of nation’s
largest banks were also on hand to mentor the student teams. Those involved hailed from
several universities, including N.C. State, UNC Chapel Hill, UNC Charlotte and the
University of South Carolina.
“We’ve gotten help from top-tier individuals and that’s all been amazing,” Gonzalez says.
Generation Blockchain Challenge was hosted at AvidXchange Inc., and Senior Vice
President of Strategic Initiatives and Corporate Development Jay Plueger says it was an
opportunity for AvidXchange to access the talent pipeline from the universities. Plueger
says leveraging this type of cutting-edge technology can open up companies’ eyes to
untapped possibilities.
“When we built our corporate headquarters, we built it with the sense of ‘we want to
involve the community,’ and wherever we can help when it’s technology or fintech events,
such as today’s blockchain challenge, we absolutely want to be a host to those type of
events in Charlotte,” he says. “There are a lot of great companies in Charlotte, and it seems
like more are finding out about our little secret here in Charlotte every day.”
As is Carolina Fintech’s belief, Ward says the blockchain challenge was about connecting
the whole region, not just Charlotte and the Triangle.
“We are on the front end of something great,” he says.
The student teams presented to the public Friday evening, and while only three won cash
prizes, all received the benefit of mentoring and pitch practice. Ward says he hopes to
bring a machine learning-focused competition to Charlotte in the future.
“Our team has been really impressed with how awesome the Charlotte fintech community
is, and we’re proud that both Raleigh and Charlotte are making waves in terms of building
innovation, in contrast to what we typically see in New York or in the West Coast,”
Gonzalez says. “I think everyone in North Carolina should be proud of what’s happening
here.”