Nielsen’s Israeli Startup Incubator Planning Local Blockchain Investments

A startup incubator and investment fund affiliated with consumer research firm Nielsen Holdings PLC plans this year to invest in at least four to five startups in Israel that are focused on applications of blockchain architecture.

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Each startup will receive several million shekels in funding in return for equity, said

, in an interview. NIF has so far raised NIS 12 million ($3.4 million) to support these planned investments.

Nielson, a global and publicly traded company with billions of dollars in revenues, established NIF in 2013 in the coastal town of Caesarea in Israel.

“We are looking for investments in the domain of blockchain and blockchain infrastructure,” Mr. Langer said, adding that working with Nielsen can be of help as startups try to reach multinational corporations.

Mr. Langer said that blockchain can be about more than payments and money transfers. Blockchain can be used, for example, to assign unique signatures to products in an effort to prevent counterfeiting. He said blockchain can also help food companies increase consumer confidence in label information by providing a verifiable signature that traces ingredients to their origin. Retailers, he said, can use blockchain to track inventory more precisely.