Humaniq, a blockchain startup focused on financial inclusion, has announced that it is joining Barclays open innovation programme Rise in London.

Co-founded by blockchain and cryptocurrency visionary Alex Fork along with successful Artificial Intelligence and DeepTech expert and entrepreneur Dmitry Kaminskiy, Humaniq has raised $3M in funding within 72 hours with its Initial Coin Offering (ICO). The ICO will end on 27 April 2017.

"We're really excited to have Humaniq joining Rise London, as they're breaking new ground in the world of digital currencies. Their fundraiser in Bitcoin is a prime example that the future of the financial industry will have to adapt and develop. Our whole community thrives when thought leaders in a topic join us. So we're sure that Humaniq is going to feel right at home with us in Shoreditch" Magdalena Krön, Head of Rise London, said.

In its official release, Humaniq said that becoming a Rise Resident will allow it to work closely alongside other startups and global organisations with influence and business relationships in global locations such as NY, Mumbai, Tel Aviv, Cape Town and across the United Kingdom. It further added that the Rise London site also host programmes like the Barclays Accelerator, which it could potentially enter.

"Working close to a leading global accelerator such as Barclays' ThinkRise will allow Humaniq to get both the expertise and financial network of a global leading bank that is working on both core finance services and innovation and will better enable us to build next generation tech for social good to serve the two billion people with no access to banking facilities to do the things many of us take for granted”, Fork said.

Humaniq aims to bring new mobile financial inclusion and education services to help the two billion unbanked people around the globe who have limited or no access to the digital economy. It is working to provide a financial inclusion circular economy P2P platform using the Ethereum blockchain and biometric technology.

"We have a deep respect for Barclays' ThinkRise. Joining Rise will allow us to scale and work faster on our mission to develop the best product and services for financial inclusion and education around the world. The expertise of the Barclays' ThinkRise team and associated network will allow us to build a global network of collaborators and networks whilst we focus on creating a solid set of products and services”, Dinis Guarda, Humaniq CEO, said in a statement.