Executive Summary :
Sernez is a NEM Blockchain powered peer to peer student education lending and scholarship platform. Sernez endeavours to provide the most accessible and affordable education loans based on the skill profile of the student rather than collateral.
We are seeking funds for a project that is up and running, A project that was previously selected as top finalists for the Future Blockchain summit by UAE Government. The NCF funds would be used to scale up the current platform in India where there is a dire need for a transparent system for loans and scholarships based on the blockchain.
At Sernez, we believe that the responsibility of the lending platform to a student doesn’t end with just meeting their financial requirement. Instead, the future of student loan is one that provides a complete support system for the student to develop into an industry ready professional, while being able to repay the loan comfortably.
We believe that using the NEM blockchain, we can bring authenticity and transparency to the education financing process of millions of students not just in India but all over the world to create a better, brighter future for all.
Our MVP is live :- https://lamina.sernez.io/ [TEST NET]
Links
Telegram - @sernez
Whitepaper - whitepaper.pdf
Blog - #sernez
Onepaper
Full Proposal Translations
The Problem Sernez is trying to Solve
The biggest struggle for students when it comes to higher education is seeking finance. Students either approach a bank for loan or apply for a scholarship to get financial aid for studies. This is typically how the problem starts.
Loans are characterised by
- Rising interest rates,
- The debt that comes with it for decades and
- Nonexistent support for repayment.
On the other hand, scholarships
- Lay scattered,
- Are difficult to find
- Can be manipulated by human intervention.
Once the students acquire the necessary financial assistance to complete graduation, a new set of problems await at the other end.
- Landing the right job
- Getting right visibility for his profile
- Finding consistent freelance opportunities
- Scholarships for higher education
- Certificate Validation issues while applying at foreign universities.
The Solution: Sernez
Sernez redefines the approach towards the student community by creating a complete education ecosystem for them to earn money.
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Crowdsourced Lending : By connecting students directly with lenders Sernez helps students borrow at lower interest rates. This enables lenders to get more value for their money than from a bank deposit. Here the loans are awarded based on skill profile ranking of the student through the custom AI platform of Sernez called Aurora. This motivates the students to acquire new skills.
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Decentralized Scholarship : The platform allows organisations & companies to run their scholarship program based on the skill profile rating of the student called SPQ(students performance quotient)on Sernez. This offers a one stop solution for the student to avail scholarship from all around the world in a democratic and transparent manner with the involvement of communities.
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Opportunity Portal : Sernez offers options for employment through seamless, transparent hiring process with the SPQ based matching algorithms. This helps connect the right talent with the right job. Companies can offer project/freelance/internship/job opportunity on platform depending on SPQ and skill profile of students. This supplements the income of the student, helping them repay faster.
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Notarization Mechanism : Sernez ensures global acceptance for certificates through its lightweight notarization engine called Lamina. With Lamina, universities and institutions can upload digital certificates and documents to ensure their authenticity. This is particularly useful in developing countries like India where fake certifications are rampant which in turn has led to decreasing credibility for the certificates often creating issues when students go abroad for higher education. With Lamina by Sernez, the authenticity and validation of the certificate are guaranteed with minimal time delay and costs.
Process Flow
Development Phases
Phase 1
- Sernez has MVP notarization portal (in testnet) build over NEM Apostille and NEM blockchain. (Completed)
- The next stage of development is to build a KYC module for the portal. We also aim to build a stable portal that can handle higher transactions.
- Data collection and verification of test data from college. Converting manual data to digital data for SPQ process.
- Kickstart the Sernez SPQ engine. Basic architecture building and define SPQ input points.
Phase 2
- Kickstart the development of Machine Language based algorithm by inputting more data to create accurate SPQ.
- Feedback based learning will improve the Aurora engine in this phase 2.
- The release of Sernez NEM Apostille Android and web application to the mainnet. Resolve all bugs and aim for a stable version 2 application.
- Understand the enterprise requirement and work with more entities and states to implement Apostille.
Phase 3
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Complete the Aurora beta engine development. Sernez platform to beta test in multiple universities.
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Complete Sernez Lamina Android beta app testing
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Explore CSR funds and scholarship options to the Sernez platform.
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Onboard good legal international legal team to obtain a license to operate in different countries. Quality Control & Bug fix in all developed modules.
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Build. Break. Innovate
Sernez Milestones
Sernez is seeking 6.1 million XEM’s to be utilized as follows (800K USD) :
The Current price of XEM - $0.16 ( on July 12th 2018)
Milestone 1
1.875M XEM ($300K) to be utilized as follows – ( 1 to 2 Months )
168 Hours of work - 3 developers, Product Manager, System Architect, Management, Admin + General - $15K | Proof of Work - Github Repos, Architecture Documents
- Sernez & Lamina architecture building
-Define structure / functionality and characteristics
-System structuring
-Technology implementation
-Define relationships to the business processes
-Understanding key tradeoff
-Legal Structure
340 hours of work - 3 Developers, UI/UX, Designer, Consultant, Product Manager, Consultant 2, Service Provider, QA, Admin + General - $70K | Proof of Work - Github Repos, Documentation, Working live module
- Sernez User verification/onboarding ( KYC, AML analysis Module) and Lamina Web portal
-UI/UX design
-KYC data entry and supporting Documents Upload Module
-KYC validation and Approve.
-Complete Sernez Lamina Website development and customized and independent portal
-Create wallet address for each verified user (by Application service)
300 hours of work - 2 Developer, UI/UX, Consultant 1, Consultant 2, Product Manager, Designer, QA, Admin + General - $40K | Proof of Work - Github Repos, Documentation, Working live module
- Adding signature feature to the Sernez & Lamina web application
-This signature module will be used for digitally signing contracts that goes via the platform.
-UI/UX design.
-Signature module to be used in both Lamina and Sernez platform.
-Implementation of Apostille service, Audit feature.
252 hours of work - Service Provider, Consultant 1, 2 Developer, 1 Data Analytic Consultant, 1 Security Consultant, Product Manager, Storage Specialist, UI/UX, Designer, QA - $90K | Proof of Work - Github Repos, Documentation, Working live module
- Initial development of Android app (Notarize & Audit functionality + Storage)
-UI/UX design
-REST API implementation
-User registration/validation
-Document sign
-Notarisation
-Audit features
-Cloud storage implementation
200 Hours of work - 2 Developer, 1 Machine Language, 1 AI Developer, Consultant, Finance Consultant, Designer, UI/UX, QA, Product Manager, Business Development, Data Entry, Legal, General + Admin - $85K | Proof of Work - Github Repos, Documentation, Working MVP
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Kickstart the development of Sernez SPQ algorithm
-ML basic algorithm to study student educational ,achievements,activities
-Data input forms for learning data
-Data collection and verification of test data from college. Converting manual data to digital data for SPQ process. -
Agreement (MoU) with school or university or government entities
Milestone 2 .
1.875M ($300K) XEM to be utilized as follows . (2 - 4 Months)
730 hours of work, 3 Developers, AI Developer, ML Developer, QA, Product Manager, System Architect, UI/UX, Designer, consultant 1 , consultant 2, Admin + General, $65K | Proof of work - Github Repos, Working MVP
- Kickstart the Aurora engine development
-Sernez Architecture Phase 1
-Aurora engine development - Phase 1
-The architecture of Machine learning based Reverse Reputation algorithm
- Python Prototype Implementation of Reverse Reputation Algorithm
-Run tests on Sample Data
640 hours of work, 3 Developers, AI Developer, ML Developer, QA, Product Manager, System Architect, UI/UX, Designer, consultant 1 , consultant 2, Consultant 3, Admin + General, $75K | Proof of work - Github Repos, Working MVP
- Implement Machine Learning and feed more data points to build SPQ, Consultation and Licensing of Mijin for Permissioned Chain
-Add More variables to calculate SPQ
-Verify the accuracy of SPQ with real world data
-Improvise algorithm
-Normalization of different attributes to the general standard
-RRA service in SPQ implementation
550 hours of work, 4 developers, AI Developer, ML Developer, QA, Product Manager, System Architect, UI/UX, Consultant 1, Consultant 2, Consultant 3, Designer, Admin + General, $65K | Proof of work - Github Repos, Working MVP
- Sernez beta web portal for Scholarship integration
-Scholarship module (custom smart contracts/ rule engine, for universities/ scholarship providers)
-Create/manage scholarship program
-Application submission/approval for scholarships.
-Test run with Educational Institution (SAINTGITS) data
320 hours of work, 4 developers, AI Developer, ML Developer, QA, Product Manager, System Architect, UI/UX, Consultant 1, consultant 2, Designer, Admin + General, $70K | Proof of work - Github Repos, Working MVP
- Complete Sernez Lamina Website development and customized portal for enterprise clients.
-Enterprise features to Lamina.
-Module level Testing
-Application level testing
-Bug fixes
-Lamina Beta Web
-Android app -Switch to main-net. - Integration completion of Apostille engine and beta testing in mainnet
-Complete Sernez Lamina Android beta app testing
-Notarize / Audit / Storage / API ready in this phase
-100 hours of testing and bug fixes
220 hours of work - 2 developers, AI Developer, QA, Product Manager, System Architect, UI/UX, Consultant 1, Designer, Admin + General, $25K | Proof of work - Github Repos, Working MVP
- Sernez student web portal for scholarships and loan
-Profile building
-Image / Document uploader
-Storage Solution and notarization
-Advanced Search option
-Social networking platform integration
-Message center
Milestone 3
1.25M (200K) XEM to be utilized as follows . ( 2 - 4 Months)
820 hours of work, 4 Developers, AI Developer, ML Developer, QA, Product Manager, System Architect, UI/UX, Designer, consultant 1, consultant 2, Consultant 3, Admin + General, $65K | Proof of work - Github Repos, Working MVP
- Aurora architecture development Phase 2
-Build library for reverse reputation algorithm
-Integrate RR with SPQ score
-Test Out the SPQ platform
-Digital certificate Issuing and apostille service Integration to sernez
550 hours of work, 3 Developers, AI Developer, ML Developer, QA, Product Manager, System Architect, UI/UX, Designer, consultant 1, consultant 2, Admin + General, $30K | Proof of work - Github Repos, Working MVP
- SPQ experiment with real student data
-Sernez portal evaluation and testing
-Performance & Security
-Safety & Reliability
-Quality Control & Bug fix
400 hours of work, 4 Developers, AI Developer, ML Developer, QA, Product Manager, System Architect, UI/UX, Designer, consultant 1, consultant 2, Admin + General, $40K | Proof of work - Github Repos, Working MVP
- Develop Sernez lenders web portal
-Lenders onboarding and KYC service Implementation
-Loan request and approval system (SPQ Based )
-Crowdfunding loan Module
-Payment integration
-Integration with Aurora.
450 hours of work, 3 Developers, AI Developer, ML Developer, QA, Product Manager, System Architect, UI/UX, Designer, consultant 1, consultant 2, Business Development, Legal, Admin + General, $30K | Proof of work - Github Repos, Working live MVP
- Identify and run a proof of concept of Sernez payment system at a university.
-Payment support online
-Offline Payment system
-Bug Fix
-Use blockchain to record the data
320 hours of work, 3 Developers, AI Developer, ML Developer, QA, Product Manager, System Architect, UI/UX, Designer, consultant 1, consultant 2, Business Development, Legal, Admin + General, $35K | Proof of work - Github Repos, Working beta, MVP
- Bring CSR funds and scholarship to the Sernez platform
The release of application to Sernez Apostille lightweight Android app-store - Onboard good legal international legal team to obtain a license to operate in different countries.
-Incorporation of company.
-Legal support.
Benefits for each stakeholder
Why NEM ?
1. Performance
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NEM offers transaction speeds much higher than most of the other available platforms. This is specifically useful for Sernez where transactions are of high volume. Also, NEM’s permissioned private blockchain for enterprise delivers tested industry-leading transaction rates of thousands of transactions per second.
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The “ Proof Of Importance ” consensus mechanism of NEM helps to optimize throughput and stability on the public node network while being very resource effective.
2. Modular Customisation
- The Smart Asset system helps build custom Applications and modules on top of the NEM framework specifically for Business and Enterprise.
- Custom Modules like Lamina can be built on top of Apostille Architecture
3. Hybrid Mode
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The On Chain and Off chain Design helps store sensitive data as well as bulk of the user data in private chain and store only the data that needs public accessibility ( Like transaction hashes and Profile Index ) in the public chain. This ensures a lightweight design, optimising efficiency and performance of the platform.
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Scalability : Building on the NEM framework offers the freedom to scale up overnight with no additional retooling or framework changes.
4. Security
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NEM’s architecture provides an incredibly secure and stable platform through the block customization feature to run financial transactions and sensitive student profiling data.
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Multi sig option of the wallet helps give restricted control and can prevent unwanted breaches that happen in other platforms.
6. Cost efficient:
- NEM platform offers stable transaction expense and maintenance that helps the platform run sustainably irrespective of market fluctuations.
7. Community Backing
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Strong Community Support that engages in peer reviewing and discussions that helps streamline the project for better market fit.
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Close access to the NEM core developer team that helps build custom applications and Integrate them smoothly into the NEM platform.
NEM Community Benefits
1. First ever lending and scholarship platform based on NEM Blockchain.
- Global visibility for NEM and access to loans and international scholarships for students who join the platform.
2. Establish NEM as the use case for P2P Lending Industry
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Sernez is being launched on NEM as the first ever Education based lending platform in world without crypto backed collateral.
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This will put NEM on the radar of key-players in the global P2P lending and document notarization industries looking to incorporate blockchain technologies into their businesses.
3. Marketing and Increased Visibility for NEM Blockchain
- Partnerships with Institutions, Companies, Universities, Students and Organizations through our platform will further increase the visibility and distribution of NEM. Especially in India where there is a huge potential market for NEM.
4. Evangelizing and promoting NEM blockchain in India
- Sernez envisions to create NEM evangelists from institutions, organizations and communities who will market and promote the applications of NEM blockchain in India.
- Sernez is also looking to create a pool of blockchain developers specialised in NEM Platform in India through one of its scholarship programs.
5. Increased usage of NEM and XEM
- As large volume of transactions happen through Sernez, this would in turn increase the usage of the NEM and XEM tokens
6. Contribute to the NEM development ecosystem
- Create open libraries and more custom modules that can be reused in other projects and hence bring in more easier & faster adoption and use case to NEM Platform.
Condensed Industry overview
Peer to Peer lending Market Analysis
P2P lending is one of the most promising and fastest growing areas of the financial markets. According to conservative estimates published by Morgan Stanley, this market will grow to almost $300 billion per year by 2020.
Great potential is possible due to the low starting point and simplicity of the idea. In the United States, the volume of the P2P-lending market in the total mass was less than 1% for 2015, while the volume growth was colossal: 123% year-on-year.
Industry Players:
Some of the most notable players in the P2P-lending market are Kiva and Lending Club.
1.6 million investors and borrowers are registered in the Kiva system. According to statistics, 97% of loans were paid to investors. Moreover, the project allocates investments for borrowers with extremely low income in the poor regions of Asia, Latin America, Africa and Asia. Loans worth more than one billion USD have been issued through the platform.
Lending Club is a legal entity operating within the United States. According to their statistics, only 6% of loans have to be restructured, and only 2% of loans result in default. The remaining 92% of loans are paid on time. Due to the clustering of borrowers by risk groups and various interest rates for different clusters, the total return on investment is 6 times higher than the yield on a deposit in the United States. The volume of loans issued by Lending Club amounts to billions of dollars.
P2P crediting has proved itself as a working financial instrument. At the same time, it is underestimated and has great potential for development.
Rising Student Debt
Sernez aims to solve the major problem faced by students. Financing their education. In a country like India, if the student wants to pursue overseas education, the bank process takes almost two to four months to process an education loan. The maximum amount of finance provided by major banks ranges between $14K to $20K and the interest rates are between 9.70% - 16.50%. Most of the Asian banks keep a high amount of collateral before they approve educational loan and in the past few years this has become a major source for banks to make money.
In the United States, even though the loan process is fast, the rising interest and initiatives by government to kill programs like PSLF (Public Service Loan Forgiveness) and student aid program has significantly increased the cost of student loans. Currently more than $100B are given as fresh new educational loan in USA every year. All this at a time when 44 Million American students already owe a staggering $1.4T as unpaid debt.
Reference: http://onewisconsinnow.org/institute/protect-pslf/
Condensed marketing plan
Who is the borrower - The Platform is projected to get initial traction and users by onboarding the colleges as well as students to the lamina Platform for certificate notarisation in India. This also sets up an ecosystem for the students to upload their certificates to the Sernez Aurora Engine for SQP. The community building initiative is planned to garner enough visibility to the programs offered by Sernez, Building the Sernez Brand. Partnerships are made with select few colleges to run closed Beta tests with high level student data and Financial Parameters. Based on this Scholarships are given to the deserving students on the platform.
Marketing Plan - As This pilots get running on a stable basis, lending too is initiated. With enough credible student data and Student history in the platform, Modules like Hiring and connecting right freelance opportunity to students are Launched. We are targeting colleges that has their own alumni / college fund to invest in their own students. In the phase two, Sernez would partner with channel partners like Credit Mantri, Credit Karma and other credit scores, reports and insights companies for more exposure. The other areas Sernez will target is to create awareness about platform through PR activities, bootcamps and hackathons.
Condensed competitive analysis :
Few of the other Players in the Blockchain lending Space are
Ethlend : P2P Lending based on Crypto backed Collateral of Physical Entities.
Karma : P2P lending platform that connects people all over world
SALT : Lending based on Crypto assets as collateral
Team
Nitin Vasanth
Chief Executive Officer
Recipient of the Gandhian Technological Innovation Award as top 15 Innovators from the Office of President of India and a young entrepreneur, Nitin drives the activities at Sernez forward with a vision to make the world a place built on trust and transparency. A very ardent blockchain Enthusiast, Nitin connects the link between Education, Finance and Skill generation using blockchain. A Communications engineering graduate from CUSAT, he has been into technology and entrepreneurship from his college days. He is currently a Global Fellow at Kairos Society, New York - the only person selected from India to the fall class of 2017 batch. He was also awarded the prestigious Rajeev Circle Fellowship based in San Francisco in memory of Google Advisor Rajeev Motwani. Nitin was also previously selected as promising innovator by tech giants Intel and Bosch India.
Rahul R Pillai
Chief Operations Officer
Rahul is a crypto expert and blockchain enthusiast, and has been operating in the crypto space since 2016. He is heading the Operations at Sernez. A Communications Engineer with 4 years of experience in operations and product management, he has previously founded an IoT startup called Rabitech Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Joe George
Chief Technical Officer
Joe is the Chief Technical Officer at Sernez and a blockchain Developer with over five years of experience in Web Technology. He holds Degree in Mathematics and Masters in Computer Science. He want to create cheaper, secure and more transparent systems.
Varun Satyam
Product Manager, Blockchain Expert.
Varun is a Blockchain expert, who has prior experience in working with different blockchain projects all over the world. Strong entrepreneurship professional with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University.
Prince Mathew
Blockchain Developer
Prince is an experienced blockchain developer with strong skills in Node, Python and AI. He currently works on the NEM architecture and has previously worked for the development of a crypto exchange.
Naveen Ravindran
Blockchain Developer
Naveen is a Blockchain expert with excellent knowledge in hyperledger fabric and NEM Smart Assets. He has over four years of experience in programming and has a keen interest for cryptography,
Fariz Rahman
AI & ML Architect
Fariz is an Expert Deep learning engineer with over 4 years of Industry experience working with best of AI companies across the globe. Ranked as #2 Contributor for open source neural network library Keras, and #8 python developer in India, Fariz leads the AI based Aurora Project In Sernez.
Github : https://github.com/farizrahman4u
Paul John
UI / UX
Experienced in working with brands for making interfaces that are usable, enjoyable and memorable. His work is rooted in having rigorous research, open dialogues and iterative cycles, which helps him in moving ideas from good to great. He specializes in hiding habit-forming behavioral actions in products and systems.
Gokul Harikumar
Design Manager
Gokul specializes in user centric design for Mobile and Web based apps. Gokul has 4+ years of experience working as design lead for for various firms including a crypto assets management company. A Computer Science engineer by graduation , Gokul is an expert in deciphering complex architectures to laymen infographics.
Amrin Kareem
Content Lead & Social Media Manager
A young enthusiastic speaker, content creator, logical thinker and critic with strong skills in writing and editing. The powerhouse behind our content strategy.
Alvin Marquez
Advisor(Blockchain)
Blockchain expert and advisor to the Sernez team. He has been working with the NEM community in USA, assisting all industries, academia, and government.
Anthony Law Yong Chuan
Technical Advisor
Anthony is a blockchain expert and developer He is working with the technical team of NEM Blockchain. Anthony functions as our technical advisor and help build our custom protocols on the blockchain including project lamina.
Adithya Naik
Advisor
A Blockchain Domain leader, Aditya co-founded Koinex, the largest and most advanced crypto exchange in India, in 2017.His Expertise in the industry and experience greatly helps team Sernez.
Vivek Steve Francis
Advisor
An entrepreneur who has withstood the test of time, Vivek is the CEO of Coinome, the second largest crypto exchange in India. Vivek’s profound understanding of the crypto industry has helped the team immensely.
Sanjay Vijayakumar
Advisor
Sanjay Vijayakumar is the CEO of SV.CO, one of India’s most recognised incubators for students. An entrepreneur at heart even as a student, Sanjay was instrumental in founding Torque, the most recognized young startup in India. He is also a member of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Council for Higher Education, Government of India.
Pitching Sernez at the Future Blockchain Summit Hosted by the Smart Dubai Office and UAE Government
Onepaper
Full Proposal Translations
Links
FAQ - English
Telegram - @sernez
Whitepaper - whitepaper.pdf
Website - www.sernez.io
Blog - sernez-blog
Mail : nitin@sernez.io
Company Name : Sernez International Private Limited
CIN: U74999KL2018PTC052619
Country : India
