What started as a solution for one problem became a much bigger opportunity
Two University of Cincinnati faculty members have launched Carbon Copy Assets to capitalize of newest opportunity with name, image and likeness.
What began as a quest to streamline scholarship renewal evolved into something far more significant — an on-chain reputation platform for students.
The platform is the work of two faculty members at the University of Cincinnati (UC). One is Michael Jones, Director of the Kautz-Uible Cryptoeconomics Lab in the Digital Futures research building. The other is Jordan Tate, a Professor of Fine Arts at UC’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning, the individual to whom Jones turned for help on the scholarship renewal process.
This fall, their start-up company named Carbon Copy Assets (CCA) will launch a mobile application where students earn badges and rewards for verifying their participation at campus events like career fairs, student club meetings, and volunteer opportunities. Students will also prove that they are building job and life skills such as financial and legal literacy.
A blockchain will record these activities, allowing donors and employers to view a publicly verifiable, immutable list of achievements.
While creating a solution to the scholarship challenge, Jones and Tate quickly realized that they were building a reputation and personal brand management platform that would be particularly helpful for students involved in competitive athletics. In a world where the Supreme Court recently granted student-athletes the freedom to monetize their name, image and likeness (NIL) through corporate marketing deals, companies and students have difficulty finding each other — making the need for robust reputation management even greater.
CCA’s ultimate goal is to work with universities, students, donors, and brand partners to create an ecosystem that allows students to pair with brand partners while simplifying tax filings and contract management.
Jones and Tate participated in the UC Venture Lab pre-accelerator program inside the 1819 Innovation Hub. There, they received $115,000 in entrepreneurship funding. Moreover, as part of 1819’s partnership with tech titan Microsoft, CCA has been admitted to the Startups Founders Hub, granting the company access to Azure software credits worth up to $150,000.
To learn more about the effort, click here.
Like what you've read?
Forward to a friend!