citybiz+ Stack Technologies Raises $3M from A1 Venture Partners, Archetype and Others

New York-based Stack Technologies has raised $3 million in a seed round led by Menlo Park, Calif.-based A1 Venture Partners, according to a listing on Crunchbase. Other backers include Archetype, Coinbase Ventures, Scalar Capital, and angel investors including Balaji Srinivasan, Nadav Hollander, Henri Stern, Cooper Turley, and Colin Armstrong, CoinTurk News reported.

Founded by Graeme Boy, a self-taught coder, Stack aims to help organizations manage loyalty points they issue to customers on a blockchain. Users could exchange their points for ERC-20 tokens or other digital assets.

“I believe that loyalty programs in blockchain ecosystems add more value and security, enabling consumers to adapt more quickly while reducing risk for both brands and consumers,” Boy was quoted as saying in a statement. “Point systems can seamlessly integrate with the natural strengths and use cases of blockchain ecosystems.”

“Stack is at the forefront and center at the dawn of the application era for crypto. As we enter this phase of the cycle, Archetype continues its commitment and excitement for consumer products and infrastructure,” said Ash Egan, founding general partner at New York-based Archetype.

A crypto investor since 2015, Egan’s early bets include Chainalysis, Mina, Near and Balancer. Before founding Archetype, Egan was a partner at Accomplice leading the firm’s blockchain and crypto practice. He is also credited with co-launching the venture arm of Consensys and serving Converge VC in Boston.

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Boy, whose early schooling was in Cape Town, South Africa, earned a B.A. honors degree in psychology and neuroscience at Iowa’s Grinnell College before embarking on a high-tech career, notably in blockchain. At Grinnell College itself, he worked as a data scientist, using machine learning and other technologies to analyze 25,000 books to “uncover insights on how English writers described non-Western cultures during the Renaissance.”

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Later, he worked for Dharma, where he developed DeFi, or decentralized protocols, and co-founded and ran Mirror, where he developed a decentralized publishing platform.

Using blockchains to manage loyalty points is not new. For many years, several small and large firms, including Deloitte, have developed some systems. Blockchain technology is believed to offer many advantages over customary methods, notably to an average American with 29 different loyalty programs.