You’re an impact entrepreneur and you’re considering decentralized science (DeSci) for business. But you’re not sure where to start. Don’t worry. We love talking DeSci and are happy to help.
Decentralized science is an emerging blockchain segment that has given birth to many social good businesses in the past few years. It provides a solution to several age-old problems within research, especially regarding access to information and equity in funding. If you want a deeper introduction into DeSci, have a look at our What is Decentralized Science article.
DeSci makes for an exciting opportunity for entrepreneurs who want to build a business that puts impact metrics first. Add the relatively young age of the field and it becomes a social impact dream. Let’s get into it.
Research for business: Expanding knowledge
Once upon a time, research was held fast in the hallowed halls of academia. One was required to have earned credentials, and funding was funneled toward the most exciting advances.
Over time, the business of research developed, sprouting organizations from pharmaceutical companies to government-housed entities. Still, who had access to research remained the same.
Today, a small but feisty branch of research has emerged, known as Citizen Research. The realm of who does research has expanded slightly, but access has not.
Enter DeSci, an industry where access is a core belief. From decentralized education to decentralized research, DeSci projects are breaking down old barriers in science. This presents an exciting opportunity for impact entrepreneurs who want to broaden their reach.
Overwhelmingly, the DeSci crypto projects that have emerged so far utilize research toward a specific target and are highly focused on solving niche problems. Imagine developing a community of nerds just like you that want to solve a problem that doesn’t have enough data. With DeSci tokens as incentives and a mission-focused business plan, your research-based business model isn’t far behind.
Science for business: Investing in the future
Okay, but what if you want to get into the business of science, rather than the business of research. For our purposes, we are using the word ‘research’ to define the gathering of knowledge, and ‘science’ for the application of knowledge. Many use the terms interchangeably, but the decentralized business models that revolve around each may look very different.
How might you implement a scientific business model as a Web3 founder? Can research- and science-based business models go hand in hand? Let’s consider some examples based on the intersection of blockchain’s core values and DeSci in business:
- Decentralized — by nature, a blockchain business aims to avoid the big nasty corporation syndrome that plagues so many would-be helpful organizations. The king-leader can’t exist in blockchain companies, so the need to amass power to preserve such a status isn’t incentivized.
- Values-driven — those values get preserved in smart contracts that are passed on throughout the organization’s generations.
- Secure — cryptography ensures the security of transactions on and offchain. Activity onchain, watched by nodes around the world, is even more secure. This poses interesting opportunities for would-be health data orgs.
- Credible — the inherent transparency of blockchain organizations gives newfound credibility and trust to the data collected by DeSci projects.
- Reduced barriers — many of the issues in science result from extremely high barriers to entry. It’s not that science should drop its rigorous processes which have ensured quality and trust for generations. It’s that those that get to ‘do science’ are a very small and specific segment of the population. Whereas DeSci companies can strategically invite participant input directly from those most affected by the area of science the business focuses on (target market or target participants).
- Transparent — every transaction enacted on the blockchain is viewable and traceable by the public. Take the FTX scandal. Sam Bankman-Fried embezzled $8bil from its members. The resulting prosecution was one of the fastest in financial history because every transaction was well-preserved, and the majority of the funds were found and returned to members. Imagine this level of transparency applied to scientific funding for the first time in history!
- Interesting — blockchain technology is ever-evolving, making it an industry that keeps DeSci founders on their toes. You’ll never get bored here.
Our recommendation is to explore existing business models within both DeSci and traditional science (TradSci) as you develop ideas for your own Web3 or even DeSci company.
How DeSci fits business
Can you actually make money in DeSci? Heck yes you can! The media loves to focus on the booms and busts of crypto, but DeSci companies and DeSci tokens may be traded on the open market to generate revenue for its founders and members.
Impact entrepreneurs typically want to break the mold to address systemic issues. On the other hand, many complaints about TradSci center on issues of access, transparency, and speed (or lack thereof). It’s an age-old mold ready to be reimagined by outside-the-box thinkers.
As a result, many of the early DeSci businesses are structured as decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). The DAO model removes barriers and increases speed by default through the power of an incentivized community.
DAOs aren’t for you? There are plenty of other DeSci business models to explore, and the market is open to your innovation.
DeSci business model highlights
Seasoned entrepreneurs know that business models are limited only by the founder’s imagination. We’ve put together the below DeSci business model examples as initial fodder for you to explore.
New models are emerging in this young industry all the time. We encourage you to watch the market and think of these only as a starting point.
- Welshare Health invites individuals to input their medical data, including that from IOT devices, in exchange for points/tokens. The data is used to train AI models, specifically with a diabetes focus, and to develop clinical trials alongside researchers.
- DataLake’s business model can be outsourced to its users. DataLake works by pulling existing medical data from patient files. The data is HIPPA compliant and can be restricted to specific use cases. They earn when users utilize their SAAS product; users can sell data, build AI medical models on the data, and more.
- Bio.xyz is interested in business models that fund science faster. They invest specifically in DeSci DAOs, from which they get the label “bioDAOs,” that collectivize funding and increase transparency.
DeSci business implementations
By now, it should be clear that we are a bit nerdy about decentralized science. We are working on our own DeSci business implementation that leverages the transparency, equity, and access that lie at the core of blockchain projects.
Similarly, many DeSci projects focus on improving research and funding. That makes sense — they’re low-hanging fruit easily addressed by existing blockchain business models. But science isn’t just fueled (or hampered) by the amount of money or knowledge it can amass. Let’s have a look at some of the existing implementations.
- DeSci in Pharma — projects that work to improve research as well as patient file sharing across industry platforms.
- DeSci in Healthcare — projects that work to improve access to healthcare, streamline healthcare results, and leverage AI agents to increase diagnostic accuracy.
- DeSci in BioTech — projects that are aimed at improving both human longevity and that of the environment through innovating in research and development.
- DeSci in Supply Chain — projects that increase access to labs, materials, and resources across the various levels of the healthcare industry.
We’re certain our readers will innovate further into the development of DeSci as a strong and established blockchain industry. We’re especially excited to see new business models emerge in the longevity sciences.
Great Scott! The current state of DeSci
DeSci is a newcomer in the blockchain industry. There are only 25 organizations that have issued a DeSci token according to DeepDAO, and just over 80 DeSci projects founded. This is a blue ocean situation for any entrepreneur and we strongly encourage founders to consider DeSci for their next venture.
We’ve created an in depth report that will help you build a strong DeSci business model and get ready to jump into this burgeoning industry. What will you build? Read our report (How) Will DeSci Make Research Great Again?