Football – or soccer, if you live in the U.S. – is popular. And, like many popular sports, it is driven by corporate interests and sponsorship deals. This can be an issue for lower-income youth interested in participating in – and at some point, making a living from – the sport.

Polish start-up company Bitcademy wants to use blockchain technology to improve the scenario, by finding talent and developing bricks-and-mortar football training academies throughout Africa. Why Africa? Because the talent is there. Bitcademy also wants to use the technology for educational facilities within the academies that will be open to community members as well as footballers who are being trained.

The start-up is scheduling an initial coin offering (ICO) in Q4 2018. “I really see blockchain playing a big role in the disruption of social impact projects,” said Bitcademy founder Tomasz Krzystek. Though the focus is on football academies, Kryzstek thinks blockchain can be expanded to “radically alter the aid industry and the NGO sector . . . it is crazy to think that this has not been implemented yet, and we want to be one of the first.”

Get CRE News in 150 words

For comments, questions or concerns, please contact Amy Sorter