A decentralised employment startup Colony won the Consensus 2016 Proof of Work showcase competition getting a $10,000 prize. The platform aims to create a working environment for freelancers around the world.

According to the company, the new network will help freelancers to build their own “companies” (or “colonies,” as the creators put it) online. The colonies are decentralised communities without hierarchical management, which can “adapt to changes in their environment instantaneously, rather than awaiting decisions from on high.” The members would have governance rights in proportion to their contribution, the influence in the company being “a pure consequence of aptitude.”

“As you contribute to colonies, your every action demonstrates your skill and expertise. Over time you build a reputation which demonstrates exactly how awesome you are compared to everyone else,” reads the project’s web-site.

The founders of the startup claim that joining a colony is as easy as using Facebook or Twitter, and its members should be no longer restricted to their formal CVs as they can show their excellence both as professionals and in whatever they do as a hobby (i.e. photography, painting, writing).

The company was presented to investors at Consensus by its cofounder Collin Vine. Pascal Bouvier (Santander InnoVentures), Rumi Morales (CME Ventures), Dan Morehead (Pantera Capita, Bitstamp), James Robinson (RRE Ventures), and Matthew Roszak (Bloq, Tally Capital) were on the investors’ panel.

The four other startups that took part in the Proof of Work startups showcase competition included the Sun Exchange, Coinprism, Lawnmower, and Uniquid.

Consensus 2016 was a second annual blockchain summit that has been held in New York by CoinDesk, Digital Currency Group, and Coin Center. Attended by industry leaders and academic researchers alike, the conference was aimed at defining a variety of real-world applications of the blockchain technology.

Maria Rudina