Paralink is thrilled to share our investment spotlight with renowned investor Hillrise Capital. Hillrise is an independent research and advisory firm focused on scaling and supporting early-stage blockchain startups.

Here’s a brief interview with Daniel Dal Bello, Director of Hillrise Capital.

Why did you invest in Paralink?

We understand that a growing blockchain industry needs access to a reliable, scalable and economical oracle solution. Oracles are a fundamental piece of the blockchain technology stack and as continued supporters of the burgeoning Polkadot ecosystem we are excited to see Paralink building in this arena.

By introducing the Paralink Query Language, the team presents a novel platform for multi-chain data ingress to address the limitations of current oracle products.

During mid-2020, we began actively participating in the Polkadot ecosystem with a particular focus on platforms and tools that make blockchain safer and easier to use for both developers and end users. We believe that Polkadot is positioned well due to its shared security and interoperability but also to be a unifying force within the blockchain space. Paralink focusing their architecture around this ecosystem was attractive to us.

We can see a clear opportunity for this team to take on established incumbents like Band Protocol and Chainlink.

What is your investment thesis for 2021?

We’re unchanged from our original vision which is to support startups that are making a real world impact using blockchain technology.

As discussed, Paralink fits this thesis as we hold the view that oracles are a vital piece of the blockchain technology stack and are needed to support growth in the broader industry.

Who are your favorite founders in the DeFi space and why?

Our favourite founders are the people building the projects we invest in. While a new startup may have the best technology and all the appropriate merits, you are ultimately investing in the people behind it too.

What is the main signal of product-market fit in the DeFi space in your opinion?

Finding product-market fit can be serendipitous at times. We didn’t foresee the overwhelming success of DEX markets like Uniswap coming to this degree, sometimes these things just come along and change the space for good.

In assessing product-market fit for a new venture, especially in the DeFi context, we try to put ourselves in the shoes of the users. Who are you building this for? Would I use it?

We like to be users ourselves and if we can’t get excited about your product, as power users, how would anyone else?

Who are some thought leaders that you follow and why?

Thought leaders to us are the founders we have the privilege of working with on a daily basis. It’s great to be surrounded by people who have a passion and drive for what they’re building – especially when they’re willing to share that with us.

What makes for a good liquidity program and why?

A good liquidity program starts with a well designed token distribution schedule. Reassuring participants in said program that even though they are receiving xyz returns, there is merit to engaging with the program and a case that they would be better off by taking part than not.

We’ve also taken an interest in novel ways to enable liquidity bootstrapping – NFTs are becoming an interesting extension of this, allowing teams to raise additional liquidity through NFT sales while taking away secondary market sell pressure. This encourages users to engage and earn limited edition NFTs with added utilities.

What is your main value-add as a fund that you bring to founding teams?

We see ourselves as uniquely positioned in contrast to other funds in this industry. We take pride in being completely independent and the teams in our network know that!

We don’t shy away from critical feedback, tough conversations, and importantly, we stick around above anything else. We make sure that each and every project we engage with matches with a service provider or likeminded team that suits them best for whatever they’re looking for.

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Paralink Network is a multi-chain oracle platform for DeFi applications powered by Polkadot.

Website: https://paralink.network/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ParalinkNetwork

Medium: https://medium.com/paralink-network

Github: https://github.com/ParaLinkNetwork

Telegram: https://t.me/paralink_network