(upbeat music) >> Live from Toronto, Canada. It's The Cube, covering Blockchain, futurist conference 2018. Brought to you by, The Cube. >> Hello, everyone, welcome back. The Cube's live coverage here in Toronto, Ontario, for Untraceable's Blockchain futurist conference. Two days, this is day one of two days, of Cube coverage. I'm John Furrier, your host. Our next guest is, Azam Shaghaghi, who is the director of public relations, and strategy for Shivom.io. Really interesting story, raised a bunch of money in 15 seconds in an ICO. Really interesting story, welcome to The Cube. Thanks for coming in. >> Yeah, thank you so much for having me. >> So we were just talking on camera, you studied at NASA in Northern California, where I live, and you've got this really cool venture. Before we get into it, talk about what you guys did with the ICO, then talk about what the company does. >> Sure, the project Shivom is about owning your own DNA. So, we are sequencing DNA, and storing it on the patient-friendly platform on Blockchain. Which actually give the power back to the donors, and the people that have the... I mean, and the users, basically. So basically, you can monetize, manage and... >> Control your data. >> Control your own data. >> How much did you guys raise? You did 15 seconds, give us the numbers. What happened? >> So we raised the 35 million. We reached the hard-cap, our public sell was sold out under 15 seconds. >> 15 seconds? - 15 seconds. >> And what month was that? >> It was, actually, on May, the third. >> So it was post, after, I mean, a lot of these actually just went out last year. Still, that's really a good signal, given the climate at that time. >> Exactly, and I think it's about what your actually, your intention is, in order to disrupt. We're talking about genomic information. We're talking about healthcare. At a very highly regulated industry, right? A lot of things have been untapped in that sector. So, hopefully, with the help of Blockchain, A.I., and advanced technology, we can disrupt. >> Now I...Crystal Rose, who's the CEO of Sensay Token, when I interviewed her, in Puerto Rico, she had a comment, which I love, I still use to this day. She makes kind of like A.I. chat boxes, really cool things, your brain and the Blockchain. Similar concept that you're doing, you're DNA on the Blockchain, that you can own and manage, for your own personal benefit, and/or value. >> Exactly. >> That's kind of the concept, if I get that right? >> That it is. >> Okay, who does the genoming? >> Oh, you mean the sequencing? >> Yeah, the sequencing. >> So, I mean, right now, there are companies out there that they do the, I mean, the... >> So, I've got to get it done, and then I bring it to the platform? How does that work? >> So what we, actually, we do, we have created the marketplace, for the industry players, right? For the donors, for the users, for the governments, hospitals, insurance companies, and research labs. So, basically, after you sequence your DNA, we can, you can give it us and we sequence, we manage it, and secure it, store it on the Blockchain. Obviously, we are doing a lot of partnerships with different companies and different ventures. We have an alliance, with different partners out there, that we do, we're trying to promote that, in terms of also helping to develop the kits. >> So I get this right, so a variety of touchpoints, with stakeholders, service providers would do the service, >> Exactly. >> and the users themselves...so if I get my DNA sequence... >> Why? >> If I get my DNA sequence... >> Right... >> Do I direct the provider to put it on the Blockchain, or do I take it myself and put it on the Blockchain? >> So, when you sequence, well, okay, so you just sign up in our platform, >> Got it. >> and after that you sign up in order to sequence your DNA. The kit will be sent out to you. So, it's all through Spark contract. >> So I use your marketplace and you do all the work? >> We do all the work. >> Got it, and how does the tokens work? >> So, basically... >> The better the DNA, the more tokens you get? I wish. Whoops! >> I wish it was like that. I don't think that there is a discussion of a better... >> Okay, I know I'm kidding. >> like DNA. >> I'm afraid you get my DNA sequence, I've got all of these diseases, who knows what I have. Alzheimers or, you know. >> Well that's maybe why you should figure that out, right? Why don't you just sequence your DNA? But, what was the question again? I'm sorry, I forgot. >> So I use your marketplace, and I instruct the service provider to put the DNA. How does the tokens work? >> Oh yes, so the token is OMX token. So, per transaction there is kind of like the token economics that actually has, is kind of like being managed. For example, you donate your DNA to a research lab, you get a certain amount of OMX, and each OMX is going to be worth, you know, some fraction to a varium. >> So some people might know 23 and me. >> Right. >> And do the mail-order kit, same thing. I think some other folks have, I think Ancestry.com does something similar. How do you guys differ from them? Just, decentralized, or they are centralized, obviously. >> They're very centralized, and there is also, there has been research going on, and that they even don't know what is going on, after they sequence your DNA, where that information is going, how is it being stored, so it is all, kind of like, company's property after it is... then you, kind of like, basically sign an agreement that you will give out all the authority to them, and they can do whatever they want to do with it. So basically you are on chain, and we are creating this economy of precision... so, we are promoting precision medicine, we're promoting advanced healthcare, and how we can tackle rare disease, for example, like cancer. We just kicked off, two projects, one in India, and one in Africa. So, we partner with EMQT, a not-for-profit organization, in Africa, in order to sequence 100 people that has Sickle Cell Disease. >> If I want to team the company, how big are you guys, what are you going to do with the funding, where's the product? Take us to a quick update on where you guys are at. >> Sure, we just actually, we had a shuffle in our management team after the ICO, obviously. Now we are moving towards the product development. So, we are hiring a lot of developers, we are working on product development. We are on our roadmap, and are on track. Obviously, we have initiation, re-initiated some of the partnerships, and some of the projects. We are on our marketing, get innovative, kind of like PR, strategy right now, and with a new team... >> And what's the PR strategy, you're in charge of that, is there an outreach, is it promoting the service provider, does it get the marketplace out there? >> It's everything, literally. So we are at the first thing, that our first pillar is the community. So, we want to have the community, you know, engaged in everything that we do. We keep updating them, we get them involved. That's what matters, you know, with us, and we have an organic, kind of like, community. We've already great support in Asia, in India, I mean all over the world, but we are like, very kind of like, you know, some industries favorite...market's favorite. >> Community's super important, well I love your mission. I'd love to keep in touch. It's getting loud in here, but I'd love to follow up with you guys. >> Yeah, obviously, thank you so much for your time. >> People, it's a great project, I mean, it's one of those things where this is a real example of de-centralization, where you can use your own information, and broker that for value. Be part of studies, I'd imagine. >> Exactly. >> Engage with community. >> And create an impact. >> Great, so thanks so much for coming out, appreciate it. It's The Cube coverage live, here, in Toronto, Ontario, for the Blockchain Futurist conference, John Furrier, day one, coverage. Thanks for watching. (digital music)