SOCIFI (GIF) ICO Analysis: A Marketplace For Sponsored Data

Executive Summary

Project Description

The mobile data sector has grown considerably over the years. Despite this rapid growth, the global demand for mobile data remains unrelenting. As a result, many projects are coming up with different solutions on how mobile data can be sponsored and some of them are trying to have a system that seeks to maximize daily user engagement.

SOCIFI wants to create an ecosystem that will solve the problem of mobile data sponsorship, while also offering other products and services to users. To accomplish this, they have two proposed solutions. Firstly, they plan to develop an online marketplace where participants can transact without a middleman. This marketplace is expected to have 4 participants and their roles are outlined below:

The Publisher (a mobile network operator, a virtual mobile network operator, or a rewards app publisher): These platforms will provide the space where the marketplace can be implemented, a space where end-users can access the sponsored content.

The Media Agency: They will monetize the marketplace by generating interesting content to attract visitors, adding relevant brands, and promoting products & services.

The Sponsors: are business owners that seek engagements with end-users. They will provide news, offers, and sale opportunities for people who visit their pages.

The Subscribers: Subscribers earn sponsored mobile data by engaging with sponsored content.

All advertisements and transactions in the SOCIFI ecosystem will allegedly be monitored and supervised to ensure transparency and complete security.

The second solution proposed by SOCIFI is a protocol that helps them stay competitive with some of the biggest marketplaces in the world, Facebook and Google. To accomplish this, they are developing an SDK called the SOCIFI engagement solution (SES). The SES is to be designed with significant emphasis on UX/UI in a bid to provide something that looks and feels more like a social media platform than traditional advertising platforms. As a result, more sponsored messages will be delivered per session, meaning more revenue generated per user, and more sponsored mobile data provided to each user. SOCIFI’s vision is that smartphone users from all over the world will be able to install the SES and cover their mobile data expenses by interacting with the sponsored content on the platform.

SOCIFI’s token, GIF, is expected to be ERC20 compliant and it will — reportedly — be the governing currency on the platform. Subscribers can earn GIF by interacting with sponsored content, and once earned, the tokens can be used to purchase sponsored data or other products. GIF may also be used to purchase media space.

Existing Product

Since late 2014, the SOCIFI project has been testing the product with sponsored data on WiFi. The project claims to have connected WiFi publishers in over 67 countries, with almost 51 million end-users enjoying free mobile data as a result.

Hard Cap and Valuation

There will be a total of 5 billion GIF tokens and SOCIFI aims to raise $26,127,734 for 61% of the token total. The tokens available for sale will be shared 24.5%: 75.5% between the presale and the crowdsale. The presale will reportedly have a discount of 35% and the tokens will be locked until exactly 6 months after the TGE. Unsold tokens will likely be airdropped.

The remaining 39% will be shared thus: 22% goes to the GIF Foundation, 11% to SOCIFI Ops, and the final 6% to SOCIFI itself. The tokens will be vested and partially released from the first month after the TGE to the first year after the TGE.

Price Per Token

The price of GIF is currently set at $0.00969635. During the crowdsale, the minimum contribution will allegedly be pegged at $100.

Participants in the presale are due a 35% discount, so during the presale, 1 GIF = $0.00630263. (Only approved investors can take part in the presale).

Important Dates

SOCIFI is currently holding their presale and it will end when crowdsale starts. The crowdsale is expected to start by 2:00 p.m. on the 26th of March, and it should run until the hard cap is reached or on April 27, 2018.

A bounty campaign is going on presently.

Marketing Power

As at the time this post was published, SOCiFi had over 19,100 subscribers on Facebook, over 8,100 followers on Twitter, 1,100+ members on Telegram, about 30 users on Discord and 23 Reddit readers.

Team Members’ Areas of Expertise

Business experts

Sidney Zdenek Hornych, CEO

• CEO of PositiveZero Ltd. — an online marketing website — for 12 years.

Thomas Budnik, Advisor

• CIO & CEO of O2 Czech Republic for over 5 years.
• CEO of Mobilkom a.s. (Ufon) — a mobile operator in the Czech Republic — for over 2 years.

Zulfiqar Khan, Advisor

• CEO of Mobility MEA (formerly GEMA MEA) for a year (ongoing).
• CEO of Emitac Mobile Solutions — an enterprise mobility and cloud service provider — for 8 years.

Target market experts

Thomas Budnik, Advisor

• Worked at several mobile operators, including O2 and Mobilkom (see above).

Zulfiqar Khan, Advisor

• Current CEO of Mobility MEA.
• SOCIFI has a strategic partnership with GEMA / Mobility MEA to introduce their solution to the Telco industry.

Marketing experts

No team members with notable marketing expertise. However, some of their advisors — as outlined below — have some marketing experience.

Thomas Budnik, Advisor

• Sales and Marketing Executive at Cesky Telecom (now O2 Czech Republic) for 2 years.
• Sales and Marketing Director at GTS Czech — a telecommunication firm — for 3 years.

Zulfiqar Khan, Advisor

• Strategic Marketing at MOTOROLA MEA and Pakistan for over 4 years.

Pavel Prabenec, Advisor

• Business Marketing Director at O2 Czech Republic for 2 years.
• VP of Marketing at GTS Czech for over 2 years.

Legal experts

SOCIFI is working with Lucie Kasparova Ebnerova, a lawyer.

Software engineering experts

Vojtech Kijensky, Head of Research and Development

• Head of Development at PositiveZero Ltd. for 10 years.

Michael Ozogan, Head of Front-End Development

• Front-end developer at PositiveZero Ltd. for over 3 years.

Jiri Simecek, Head of API & Back-End Development

• Lead Developer at Miranthia a.s., a web solutions company, for 11 months.
• Software Developer at Arbes Technologies, European software provider, for almost a year.

Petr Chroustovsky, Full Stack Engineer

• IT Manager at MANAG and DPG TECH.

Blockchain development experts

No team member with blockchain development expertise.

Token sale structure experts

No team member with token sale structure expertise.

Token economics experts

No team member with token economics expertise.

Conclusion

Strong points

• Existing business (claiming to cover 67 countries, 51 million end-users).
• Strategic partnerships with Rockaway Capital, icomera, Tata Communications, Cisco Meraki, and many others.
• Advisors with notable target market expertise.

Potential risks for investors

• No apparent blockchain development expertise.
• No team member with ICO organizational expertise.
• No team member with token economics expertise.
• Presale investors have to endure a 6-month lockup period.
• SES will be initially administered by SOCIFI. According to their roadmap, it will become decentralized in Q1 2019.

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Disclaimers:

• Nothing written in this article is a legal or an investment advice.
• Information is provided on a best-effort basis and is subject to change without prior notice. Be sure to verify everything you read with a project team.

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The analysis was produced by Research Center team members: Alexander Hinz, Mark Jedd, Eugene Tartakovsky.

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