Airtel acquires strategic stake in Gowthaman Ragothaman's blockchain-tech start-up Aqilliz

Bharti Airtel, the Indian communications solutions provider, announced that it has acquired a strategic stake in Aqilliz – a Blockchain as a Service Company under the Airtel Start-up Accelerator Program, subject to applicable statutory approvals.

Singapore-based Aqilliz has developed a patented hybrid blockchain platform, Atom, that integrates differential privacy and federated learning on a distributed digital ledger. This allows brands to create secure and consent-based solutions to engage with customers in a rapidly-evolving digital economy that’s becoming increasingly decentralised.

Airtel aims to deploy Aqilliz’s advanced blockchain technologies at scale across its fast-growing Adtech (Airtel Ads), Digital Entertainment (Wynk Music and Airtel Xstream) and Digital Marketplace (Airtel Thanks App) offerings.

Adarsh Nair, CEO – Airtel Digital, said, “We, at Airtel, are deeply researching new technologies that drive the future of a digitally connected India. This relentless focus on innovation is also enabling us to unlock new growth engines within Airtel. Blockchain technology is maturing and we see its application across areas such as Adtech, Creator Economy, and Loyalty Programs. We are thrilled to have Aqilliz join our Start-up Accelerator Program and be part of Airtel’s digital innovation factory.”

Gowthaman Ragothaman, Founding CEO – Aqilliz, added, “We are extremely excited to be a part of Airtel’s digital innovation play and bring this first of its kind blockchain technology to India. Legacy customer engagement, ad tech and marketing technologies are built for centralised databases. The future of the digital economy is already pivoting to managing value exchanges between brands, platforms and the consumer. Aqilliz’s patented technology will enable Airtel to capture and carry this value exchange in the form of consent and provenance across the digital supply chain. We look forward to working closely with the team at Airtel.”

Airtel Start-up Accelerator Program invests in early-stage start-ups working on technologies that have adjacencies to Airtel’s business offerings. The program gives start-ups the opportunity to deploy their technologies and applications at a massive scale, which includes over 340 million retail customers and over 1 million business. In addition to funding, the program offers mentorship from Airtel’s leadership team and access to Airtel’s global strategic partners.

Recently, Airtel launched the ‘Airtel India Start-up Innovation Challenge’ in partnership with Invest India. Early-stage Indian start-ups were invited to demonstrate solutions for 5G, IoT, Cloud Communications, Digital Advertising and Digital Entertainment.

10 winners will get the opportunity to access Airtel’s digital engineering ecosystem to co-create solutions and select few will be inducted into the Airtel Startup Accelerator Program.

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