Tech’s next frontier: Indiana companies are making their way to Web 3.0

The next generation of the internet is still in its infancy, but some Indiana technology companies are making significant inroads in designing tools for brands to gain revenue, visibility and security in the web’s third wave.

“It’s still in the fledgling stage nationally and here,” said Ting Gootee, CEO of TechPoint, an advocacy group focused on growing Indiana’s digital innovation economy. “A lot of people are learning what Web 3.0 really is.”

Web 3.0 is built upon the core concepts of decentralization and openness. Its features include artificial intelligence, machine learning and blockchain technology.

Financial assets like bitcoin and other cryptocurrency were its first widely adopted platforms, although they’ve experienced market turbulence. Now, some major corporations, especially in consumer-facing areas like fashion, art, gaming and food services, are launching Web 3.0 programs in which people use digital identities to collect, sell and trade non-fungible tokens, such as art, trading cards and more.

Starbucks, Procter & Gamble Co., Porsche, Doritos and Nike all have launched programs.

Starbucks Odyssey, for example, offers Starbucks Rewards members and employees the opportunity to earn and purchase digital collectible assets that will unlock access to new benefits and immersive coffee experiences.

Odyssey members can take online “journeys,” a series of activities, such as playing interactive games or taking on fun challenges to deepen their knowledge of coffee and Starbucks. Members are rewarded for completing journeys with digital collectible “journey stamps”—known in the Web3 world as non-fungible tokens. Those tokens can then be collected, traded and sold.

Several Indiana companies are now working to make their own mark in that space, helping to create loyalty programs, finding other marketing opportunities and taking advantage of the verifiable data transfer Web 3.0 has to offer.

Flaunt Software Inc.

The vision for Indianapolis-based Flaunt Software came from Batesville childhood friends Connor Kelley and Chris Miller, who saw great potential for a marketing software company to use Web 3.0 to better connect companies with their top customers.

The company would eventually be launched this year out of High Alpha, an Indianapolis venture studio that cultivates tech startups. Kelley, a Princeton University graduate with a degree in economics and finance, is the president and CEO, Miller is the chief revenue officer, and Zach Schmid is the chief technology officer.

Kelley said he sees innovation through Web 3.0 as being critical to driving repeat purchases, improving customer engagement, and unlocking new revenue streams, allowing both brands and customers to benefit.

Flaunt’s Web 3.0 programs are designed to create brand super fans by giving them ownership of branded digital assets, such as memberships and exclusive products. Flaunt tries to foster community by linking customers digitally and giving them a voice about what they’d like to see from a brand.

Recently, Flaunt announced a partnership with Scotch & Soda, an Amsterdam-based fashion brand. Flaunt is developing software to help the company administer brand perks and benefits to Club Soda 3.0 members to increase brand loyalty.

Flaunt’s other clients include Ikonick, a Los Angeles-based online canvas art gallery, and Almost Friday Media, a California-based media platform, production company and lifestyle brand. Flaunt’s programs, he added, are suited to consumer-focused brands, and businesses with popular brands, including fashion, media, travel and hospitality.

Kelley said his three-year managing position at Roblox Corp., a video gaming company, helped develop his ideas about digital interaction and how brands can engage consumers.

“I’ve seen the next generation of consumers and how integral the internet is to their lives and how important their online identifies are,” he said.

With the emergence of Web 3.0, he realized the advantages of having customers own digital assets, such as badges signifying accomplishments and being able to port their loyalty status and digital profile into other websites and digital experiences.

“The idea you can own your digital identity and take it with you to participate in all these rich new experiences on the internet seems like something everybody will inevitably be doing at some point,” Kelley predicted.

Holder

Holder is the first Web 3.0-focused company launched by High Alpha. It aims to help companies navigate the disruption that the third wave of the web is expected to bring to traditional marketing and customer relations.

“We’re just trying to bring a lot of the marketing capabilities and technology to the Web 3.0 ecosystem around new products being built,” said Drew Beechler, Holder’s co-founder.

Existing marketing platforms are built around email addresses. But Web3’s technology means consumers will increasingly use digital wallets to make purchases and interact online. A digital wallet is a place to store assets such as cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens. Third parties can see that an asset and activity associated with a wallet, but they don’t know the identity of the wallet-holder.

So Holder will help marketers use data from digital wallets to reach those wallets’ owners, even if the marketers don’t know who those individuals are.

The company launched in 2022 from High Alpha, where it leases space. Holder has six employees in Indianapolis, and dozens of brands use its products.

Holder works with many traditional companies launching non-fungible token products. Among its clients are VaynerSports, a national career management and brand consulting agency that manages athletes, and Nomad Boulevard, which owns an art gallery in West Hollywood.

Beechler is also working to educate brands and companies that have no idea how to begin operating and marketing in Web 3.0. Holder created Indy3, an online community that helps familiarize people with the new ecosystem. So far, more than 100 people have registered at Indy3.xyz.

“It’s definitely an opportunity for Indianapolis and Indiana to be a leader in this space,” Beechler said.

SIMBA Chain

Indiana’s most established Web 3.0 company is probably South Bend’s SIMBA Chain, which incubuated out of the University of Notre Dame in 2017.

It has expanded to 50 employees worldwide and has raised $37.5 million in venture capital in three rounds and probably will raise more before the end of the year, said Bryan Ritchie, SIMBA Chain’s CEO.

SIMBA Chain’s appeal is the way it uses the Web 3.0’s blockchain infrastructure to securely record and confirm online transactions.

Each transaction forms a “block,” these blocks make up a chain, and the system is designed as a cheat-proof and more secure way to conduct transactions. The technology can be used in applications ranging from manufacturing supply chains to financial records to food sourcing.

“It’s a new space and kind of the Wild, Wild West. We are definitely on the ground floor,” Ritchie said. “It’s grown very rapidly. We’ve actually doubled in revenue every year.”

About 75% of SIMBA Chain’s revenue comes from government contracts, including those with the U.S. Air Force and Navy, and Departments of Defense and Labor. In December, Simba received its largest government contract, worth $30 million, from the U.S. Air Force to work with its STRATFI program that establishes relationships between Air Force and Space Force warfighters. SIMBA is responsible for managing the $30 million and will receive most of the funds, Ritchie said.

“We’re going to completely modernize their supply chain and make it visible and transparent to all of their suppliers,” he added.

The remaining 25% of SIMBA’s revenue is from commercial customers, including Caterpillar Inc. and Boeing Co. By the end of 2023, Ritchie predicted, SIMBA’s revenue will be about evenly split.  “Over the next two years, commercial growth will start accelerating as private companies start following the government’s lead in adopting blockchain technology,” he predicted.

SIMBA’s technology emanated from a Notre Dame research grant that resulted in developing a platform, using technology that makes it easier for companies to link existing business solutions to Web 3.0.

Ritchie predicted the blockchain will be used by many enterprises and government agencies that need verifiable information that cannot be changed and that allows users to know the origin of data.

“It’s faster and less expensive and more efficient,” he said.•

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IBJ technology reporter Susan Orr contributed to this story.

Correction: This story has been updated to say that Holder launched in 2022. You can see more corrections here.