MState, a startup accelerator with a focus on companies developing blockchain technologies, is receiving backing from International Business Machines Corp (IBM) and Comcast Corp.

Blockchain is a digital platform which companies can use to streamline data management such as record keeping and assisting with transactions. It is a technology used by companies of many different sectors.

“It’s complementing our strategy,” Janine Grasso, Vice President for blockchain strategy and ecosystem development at IBM, told Economic Times.

According to the fund’s founder Rob Bailey, MState is aiming to provide investments for five to six startups in the blockchain sector over the next six months and receive connections to Fortune 500 companies. Each startup will receive between $25,000 and $50,000.

IBM, having adopted blockchain itself in the past, will provide MState with support services, while Comcast will provide funding. The latter of the two companies is working with blockchain technologies on advertising.

“There’s a massive opportunity in Fortune 500 companies,” Bailey said. “They don’t know which companies to work with.”

Previously a partner at Akkadian Ventures, Rob Bailey founded MState which currently has locations in New York and San Francisco. IBM and Comcast are the fund’s biggest backers. According to Bailey, companies being selected by the investment fund are less developed than those which have received support from its new backers in the past.

The first startup which has received funding from MState is Blockdaemon, a startup which assists in maintenance and upkeep of a company’s blockchain network.

“Think of us as an earlier-stage scout fund for other funds,” Bailey said.

Bailey also said while MState is only focused on blockchain-based startups, for the time being, the fund has plans to expand into other sectors, namely, artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

According to Grasso, some startups who do not receive funding from MState may still receive support from IBM.

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