Skip to content
    • About us
          • Digital Catapult is a deep tech innovation organisation driving business value by accelerating the application of advanced technologies.

            3,000

            Companies supported since 2018

            £555m

            Investment raised by startups since 2018

            20+

            Advanced technology facilities nationwide

    • Our ambition
          • Our ambition is to realise the practical application of deep tech through four interventions

            ambition-scale-deep-tech

            Enabling UK deep tech companies to scale

            ambition-improving-supply-chain

            Improving UK industrial supply chain resilience

            ambition-decarbonisation

            Driving industrial decarbonisation

            ambition-advancing-data

            Advancing UK development and use of data driven and open future networks

    • Our people
          • susan-bowen

            We are an organisation made up of almost 300 innovators.

            We pride ourselves on the skilled and talented people from varied backgrounds that make up our team – we harness the expertise, perspectives and connections of people of more than 40 nationalities, thereby bringing together a diversity of skills, experience and backgrounds.

            Susan Bowen

            CEO of Digital Catapult

    • Our places
    • Startups and scaleups
          • bfp cover

            Black Founders Programme

            The Black Founders Programme is an accelerator targeted at pre-seed or seed stage, Black-founded companies creating innovative products and services...
            ORCA-020

            Quantum Technology Programme

            Separating opportunity from hype to understand industry challenges that may be best solved by quantum computing.
    • Government and Public sector
          • 3d,Illustration,Of,Hydrogen,H2,Molecule,Model,-,Clean,Energy

            Hydrogen Innovation Programme

            Discover more about the the Hydrogen Innovation Initiative and the deployment of hydrogen technologies to address pressing energy and environmental...
            London,Office,Building,For,Network,And,Future,Concept

            Digitalising Energy Programme

            Energy Systems Catapult and Digital Catapult have partnered to explore the groundwork for a UK-wide initiative to accelerate a digitalised,...
          • Banner website digital twin 3

            UK Digital Twin Centre

            Delivered by Digital Catapult and funded by Belfast Region City Deal and Innovate UK, the UK Digital Twin Centre makes digital twins more accessible and meaningful in the UK. It actively enable industries and innovators to safely embrace, explore and realise their dynamic power.
            Find out more UK Digital Twin Centre
    • Corporates and Industry
          • Transparent,Clear,Colorful,Glass,Or,Liquid,Waves.,Neon,Pattern,Abstract

            Green Hydrogen Certifier

            This report looks at the Green Hydrogen Certifier - an end-to-end demonstration of a potential digital certification solution for hydrogen production...
    • Academia
    • Investors
          • bfp cover

            Black Founders Programme

            The Black Founders Programme is an accelerator targeted at pre-seed or seed stage, Black-founded companies creating innovative products and services...
    • Services
          • Bespoke software & data systems

            Developing proof-of-concept demonstrators to showcase the viability and benefit of deep tech solutions.

            Platform engineering service

            Designing, building and operating physical and digital facilities. Providing testbeds for deep tech discovery and experimentation.

            Technology & innovation consultancy

            Consultancy services helping organisations addresses market preparedness gaps, evaluate financial viability and navigate technology change management.

          • Acceleration programmes for business

            Creating acceleration programmes to support businesses.Helping them grow through mentorship, technology support, networking, and investment opportunities.

            Facilitating and convening

            Bringing together and developing ecosystems of companies to explore, test and demonstrate how deep tech works in practice.

    • Technologies
    • Facilities
    • Opportunities
          • newsletter

            Sign up to our newsletter

            sign up for alerts and be the first to know when new open calls are announced. Don’t miss your chance to stay informed and get involved!

    • Current interventions
          • ORCA-020

            Quantum Technology Programme

            Separating opportunity from hype to understand industry challenges that may be best solved by quantum computing.
          • Banner website digital twin 3

            UK Digital Twin Centre

            Delivered by Digital Catapult and funded by Belfast Region City Deal and Innovate UK, the UK Digital Twin Centre makes digital twins more accessible and meaningful in the UK. It actively enable industries and innovators to safely embrace, explore and realise their dynamic power.
            Find out more UK Digital Twin Centre
    • Case studies
          • Black Founders Programme Showcase event.

            SymphoMe: case study

            Part of the FutureScope's Black Founders Programme, Digital Catapult supported Nyangibo Gallery to get investment ready and receive business expertise
    • Events
    • Blogs
    • Publications
          • Glass globe encircled by verdant forest flora, symbolizing nature, environment, sustainability, ESG, and climate change awareness, generative ai

            Get involved

            Be the first to know about upcoming resources, events and activities in the BridgeAI programme.
            Glass globe encircled by verdant forest flora, symbolizing nature, environment, sustainability, ESG, and climate change awareness, generative ai

            The Programme

            Find out more about how the Innovate UK BridgeAI programme and how it aims to stimulate the adoption AI and...
    • Press releases
  • Search
  • Contact
Press Release

Digital Catapult welcomes Vinay Gupta as Blockchain Fellow

Posted 10 Oct 2017

Vinay Gupta will bolster expertise in blockchain and smart contracts.

LONDON, UK 11 October 2017 – Digital Catapult today announces that Vinay Gupta, co-founder of Mattereum, has been appointed as Blockchain Fellow of the prestigious UK Government initiative Digital Catapult, a company based in London’s Euston Road but with centres in strategic areas across the country. The appointment marks the centre’s ongoing focus on demonstrating just how the evolution of blockchain is helping to empower companies and individuals to perform secure financial transactions without third party intervention.

Vinay Gupta is a leading figure in the blockchain space. He co-ordinated the release of the blockchain platform Ethereum in July 2015 and was strategic architect for ConsenSys, a technology hub focusing on the Ethereum blockchain and related applications. He was the designer of the National Blockchain Strategy for Dubai and is a partner at Hexayurt Capital, the technology-focused VC firm behind the Internet of Agreements. He has been involved in commercial software development since 1992 and his experience as a programmer and visionary has covered fields as diverse as medical imaging, flight simulation, computer graphics, cryptographic applications and the web.

This week, Digital Catapult is also to be a venue for the Internet of Agreements Conference hosted by Mattereum which will bring many of the key players together for an important global conversation on the implications and applications of smart contracts.

Dr Jeremy Silver, CEO of Digital Catapult said: “We are absolutely delighted that Vinay Gupta has agreed to take on the newly created role of Digital Catapult Blockchain Fellow. Vinay’s credentials speak for themselves as one of the leading voices around the world, developing the application of distributed ledger technologies and smart contracts beyond the confines of fintech. We hope that Vinay will spend one or two days a month at Digital Catapult, bringing the ecosystem of innovative businesses in the space together and helping envision the future for blockchain and smart contracts across industrial sectors.”

Mr Gupta comments on his appointment as Blockchain Fellow, “The UK is at the top of list as the blockchain capital of the world especially in the primary market for legally enforceable smart contracts with recourse to arbitration, in which the City of London is already a global leader. Technology is key to the UK’s economic growth, productivity and competitiveness and as blockchain Fellow with Digital Catapult I am pleased to do my part in facilitating greater understanding and take-up of the blockchain in all its applications.”

As part of his extended CV, Mr Gupta was also on the editorial team of ‘Small is Profitable’, the winner of the 2003 Economist Book of the Year, and has contributed to US Department of Defence research, advised Arup on urban resilience and was associate fellow at the UCL Institute for Security and Resilience. He is co-founder of Mattereum, a startup which brings legal enforceability to blockchain smart contracts.

He has long had a humanitarian concern with the condition of the poorest in society and disaster relief. He invented the cheap, simple, non-patented and open source hexayurt refugee shelter which has gone on to become iconic in the Burning Man counter culture. In his techno-realist view, technology and engineering, including blockchain, can contribute to positive social and commercial transformation and help deal with resource scarcity.

About Digital Catapult’s involvement in blockchain

Digital Catapult is designed to help drive the development of the British economy through encouraging digital innovation and culture by supporting organisations such as, in this case, Mattereum.

Mattereum considers the UK to be at the top of the list as the blockchain capital of the world especially in the primary market for its platform, legally enforceable smart contracts with recourse to arbitration, in which the City of London is already a global leader.

Technology is acknowledged as key to the UK’s economic growth, productivity and competitiveness. In 2014, former Business Secretary Ed Vaizey spoke at Digital Catapult’s opening about the importance of the Internet of Things. Three years on, the UK now has an opportunity to lead the world in the Internet of Agreements.

To find out all of the ins and outs of smart contract technology and the legalities of applying smart contracts in the real world, in areas like managing intellectual property and real estate, get your tickets to the Internet of Agreements Conference taking place at Digital Catapult from 13-16 October.

 

For more blockchain tech news, read Vinay Gupta’s programmable blockchains in context article