THE
CHALLENGE

Easy Crypto is a broker and retail service that enables people to buy and sell cryptocurrencies through a simple one-click process. The company started in New Zealand but has since expanded into Australia, South Africa, and most recently, Brazil. The company operates out of the Newmarket Innovation Precinct by using its co-location services and employs 65 people worldwide.

Janine had a problem common to start-ups: her company needed a physical base. She and her team were working out of cafes, libraries, and other public spaces. This made it difficult to hold meetings and work collaboratively. Janine was also looking for more than just office space, too. Cryptocurrency is complicated and collaborative, and she also wanted access academic resources, fellow entrepreneurs, and a brain trust that could help put Easy Crypto on the map. That’s where the Newmarket Innovation Precinct came in.

HOW WE
HELPED

The Newmarket Innovation Precinct (NIP) allows companies to bring their teams together in a research-intensive environment and develop collaborative relationships with academics. Easy Crypto became ‘members’ of the NIP community, which allowed them to take advantage of the office-based services available to entrepreneurs and companies and settle into the university environment. With Claire’s support, Easy Crypto toured the University and was introduced to a variety of faculty members within Engineering and Computer Science to discuss common research themes of interest. Janine outlined some of the challenges in this exciting new sector and pitched ideas for how these problems might be solved in collaboration with University’s research teams. Easy Crypto is now in discussion with The University of Auckland’s Dr Partha Roop and Dr Reza Sharhamiri regarding research opportunities to use machine learning for fraud detection.

Working with a university research team allows Easy Crypto to tap into resources it wouldn’t otherwise have, like access to postgraduate students and researchers.