Bharti Airtel acquires Strategic stake in Blockchain technology startup Aqilliz

Bharti Airtel has recently acquired a stake in the blockchain-based digital marketing company, Aqilliz.

Aqilliz offers a blockchain platform called Atom, which allows brands to create solutions to engage with customers in order to show them relevant content via a distributed digital ledger.

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 Startup Accelerator Program and be part of Airtel’s digital innovation factory."

Gowthaman Ragothaman, Founding CEO – Aqilliz, said, "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."

The Aquilliz claims that organizations can perform advanced analytics on top of the platform while preserving the privacy of user data. Being based on a distributed ledger, all participants are required to trust each other, share data and unify proprietary technologies. This in turn, is expected to help the ecosystem with better insights in a real-time scenario and for more efficient marketing.

Airtel will deploy Aqilliz blockchain technology into its ad-tech domains via Airtel ads, digital entertainment platform Airtel Xstream and Wynk Music and the Airtel Thanks App, which is the gateway to the company's online payment bank used for claiming rewards and recharges.

The acquisition is a part of Airtel’s Startup Accelerator Program, via which the company invests in early-stage startups. The company had also launched its India Startup innovation Challenge in the month of December last year in partnership with the government investment promotion agency, Invest India.

Airtel invites companies who would demonstrate solutions in IoT, 5G and some other advanced technologies.