An incidental dive down a rabbit hole turned out to be accidental planning genius…
As July 2019 approached, Anndy Lian, a contact of one of Gaimin.io’s advisors appeared more than a little interested in the project. Following on from his initial enquiries, he asked why the team were not taking advantage of the latest trend for raising money, that of the IEO.
Discussions took place and with his lead, Gaimin.io began its foray into the Korean market of both gamers and blockchain enthusiasts. What seemed a complete shot in the dark appeared compellingly logical once the strategy had taken shape. It also laid the foundation for future initial exchange offerings. The first one was a learning curve, subsequent IEOs will enable the leveraging of knowledge and exposure and selling out of tokens within the first 15 minutes proved that the market has an appetite for what Gaimin.io has to offer. If this was a beginning, it was a very good one.
If the question had been “is Asia the right place to do the first IEO?” then the thought through academic answer, with the benefit of hindsight seemed blindingly obvious …………
South Korea’s 28.9 million players spent a total of $5.6 billion in 2018, making it the world’s 4th biggest games market.
WITH 85% of gamers making in-game asset purchases, meaning that they are a large target audience for Gaimin.io’s GMRX tokens. THAT is in addition to being contributors to and benefiting from the mining application that Gaimin.io has proven in its Alpha testing.
It could easily have been a case of bewilderment if it did not make such sense.
That said, you never really know what you are looking at until you get started on something though, and these things tend to have a life of their own.,
Stepping up to meet the challenge meant that previously optional elements suddenly became mandatory with the advent of the IEO. These included a white paper, immersion into the Asian gaming markets, and getting the story out professionally on social and specialised media. Oh and in three languages at that!
Meanwhile it was business as usual in the fettling department or engine room at Gaimin,io: The team had continued to work on the offering, security and marketing. This development was too significant not to embrace, and that had other implications.
We sometimes need to remind ourselves what we actually got done, it all happened so fast. A blink and you might miss it kind of scenario. These are the main points:
July saw the whitepaper produced; and then translated into ‘basic’ Chinese and Korean. Articles were posted on social media and a number of press releases created. The social media channels began to have focus.
Telegram and Kakao groups quickly took on a life of their own with true engagement, continued to grow and reflected well on the project.
And some of the backdrop activity putting these events into context …Over the past 90 days; July, August, September there was a journey to Switzerland to finalise corporate structure along with engaging a specialised FINMA lawyer to move the regulatory process along.
The website was re-engineered to better reflect the business as a whole, and to corroborate and underpin events, PR and branding efforts.
There were two Korean trips for branding, market awareness and lead generation, a Mallorca visit to engage with potentially larger investors, further PR articles to feed and fuel the Asian IEO launch strategy, mainstream articles as breadcrumb trail adding credibility for current potential investors.
ALL this having a direct bearing on market and investor confidence and creating momentum. It certainly helped when looking to generate operating capital and deliver project plans and returns for investors. Serious amount of work and goals achieved tends to reassure and attract investors. Who would have thought?
Additionally C6Advisors https://c6advisors.com were engaged to strategise / develop and influence.
“Yes, but so what?” is a reasonable question from the man on the Clapham omnibus (no, we don’t talk like that either, but it is a good test nevertheless.)
Investors, including ground level, institutional and potential all have similar drivers and questions and they need to be satisfied. Consider project viability (a.k.a are they still alive?) returns, timing, volumes and options for investing…
Which leads to a potential Catch-22. (and if you have not read the book then your life is much the poorer, no excuses for being preachy, either)
Without investment there is no project and without a viable project there is no prospect of any return on investments.
Gaimin.io has attracted institutional investment partners and this in turn makes it a more attractive investment opportunity to others.
Anticip…….ation:
Momentum, confidence, interest, awareness: “take that to the bank” as the philosphers Shalamar knew only too well in 1978
The Borabit IEO formed the template for more exchange listings as well as a Public Token Offering, anticipated either side of the new year.
Returns in the form of cashing in the original sums invested are similarly bracketed in the progress of the project as a whole. In other words when the next round of exchange listings happen, additional capital will be available to reward early investors. That said, with progress even more assured at that point, part encashment or leaving the total sums in are both valid strategies.
Content, but not smug and not resting on our laurels…
Gaimin.io’s board are content that the underpinnings of the project are increasingly assured and that the project is on track.
The IEOs are also strategic in that they will help to drive lead generation and increase brand awareness for both development and investment partners and organisations.
The twin pronged approach will continue to be followed. Namely fund raising from the markets, and from investors both institutional and individual. We are delighted with progress on all fronts, and are ready to discuss opportunities with interested parties and individuals in depth.
Some links and some further reading.
