A Successful Trip to the 1871 Fintech Innovation Summit in Chicago ✈️

Kicking off the year with a bang, our team attended the 1871 Fintech Innovation Summit in Chicago this January! This event was an incredible opportunity to engage with top fintech leaders, investors, and pioneers who are shaping the future of digital finance.

Our participation at 1871 gave us deeper insights into fintech trends, investment strategies, and emerging technologies, inspiring our next moves in developing Shaheen and our Interoperable API. Engaging in conversations with industry leaders reinforced the urgency of solving the interoperability challenge in digital payments, positioning Empowch as a key player in this revolution.

This experience provided a wealth of inspiration as we continue refining our technology and preparing for the next stages of growth. Stay tuned for insights and takeaways from the summit in the coming weeks!

 

Accepted into QUBIC Labs: A Game-Changing Milestone 🏆

We are thrilled to announce our acceptance into QUBIC Labs (Feb-May 2025)! This is a huge milestone for Empowch, providing us with the perfect environment to accelerate the development of our Interoperable API.

 

Why QUBIC Labs Matters

QUBIC Labs is a fintech-focused startup accelerator with a track record of supporting groundbreaking innovations. Some of their past alumni have made significant strides in the blockchain and payments industry, including startups we met during the 1871 Fintech Innovation Summit.

Our participation in QUBIC Labs means: 

✅ Expert Mentorship: Direct access to seasoned fintech leaders from Coinbase, Cardano, Coinmetrics, Grant Thornton, MoonPay, Robinhood, Solana, and top institutions like MIT, Harvard, and Suffolk University.
✅ A Comprehensive 12-Week Hybrid Program: The program kicks off on February 18, 2025, with 10 weeks of remote learning followed by an immersive 2-week in-person segment in the Greater Boston area.
✅ Exclusive Coaching & Contests: Engage in bi-weekly pitch contests, receive investor feedback, and participate in collaborative opportunities with Nvidia, Hacken, Kadena, and Algorand.
✅ Demo Day in Boston: At the end of the program, we will present Empowch and the Interoperable API to a curated audience of investors, angels, and industry leaders.

This is an unparalleled opportunity to refine our business model, strengthen our investor outreach, and position Empowch as a leading force in Web3 fintech.

We’ll be dedicating a lot of content to this over the next few weeks, highlighting what QUBIC Labs does and how it will shape Empowch’s journey. Stay tuned!

 

Full Steam Ahead: The Interoperable API 🚀

The development of our Interoperable API is progressing rapidly. This is the missing link in global blockchain payments—a SWIFT-style system for digital wallets that will enable seamless transactions between different payment rails, whether they are blockchain-based, bank-connected, or cash-powered.

Our goal? To make sending digital assets as easy as sending a text message—regardless of the underlying technology. We are leveraging blockchain, smart contracts, stablecoins, and LLM technology to create the most frictionless, secure, and scalable payment infrastructure in the market.

And there’s more: We are building our first cross-platform bridge between two major blockchains! This will serve as the foundation for our pilot project, allowing two wallets from different blockchains to communicate and transact seamlessly.

A key part of our experience with QUBIC Labs will be building and refining this API with guidance from some of the industry’s greatest Web3 minds. Through expert mentorship, hands-on development, and structured learning, we will enhance the API’s capabilities, ensuring it meets the needs of digital wallet providers and users alike. This program is an essential milestone in bringing our vision of seamless blockchain interoperability to life.

 

A Huge Success: Our First Angel Investor Briefing 🎉

Last week, we hosted our first Angel Investor Briefing, and the response was incredible! Over 20 potential private and institutional angel investors joined us for an engaging session where we shared our vision, progress, and the game-changing role of our self-custody blockchain wallet Shaheen in the digital payments space. The questions asked were insightful, challenging us to refine our approach even further.

Given the success and the enthusiasm from our attendees, we are excited to announce that our second session will take place at the end of February. If you’re interested in joining this exclusive discussion, send us a DM—we’d love to have you in the room as we shape the future of financial technology.

 

Web Summit Doha 2025: Bringing Shaheen to MENA 🌍

Big news! Shaheen will be exhibiting at Web Summit Doha from February 26-29, 2025, at a stand provided by Flat6Labs – StartMashreq Program! Learn more about the event here

Web Summit Doha is one of the world’s largest and most influential tech conferences, attracting over 1,500 startups, investors, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders from across the globe. The event serves as a premier platform for networking, showcasing innovations, and forging high-impact partnerships.

With its strong focus on fintech, blockchain, and emerging technologies, Web Summit Doha presents a significant opportunity for Shaheen to connect with investors, partners, and potential users. As we prepare for this major event, we’re also working on solutions for financial inclusion in Lebanon and Syria—two regions where access to stable financial services is critically needed.

This is also our first time visiting Doha, Qatar, a rising fintech hub, and we’re excited to connect with industry leaders, investors, and partners. If you’ll be at Web Summit Doha, drop by our booth!

 

The Road Ahead: What’s Next?

With so much happening, 2025 is already shaping up to be a transformational year for Empowch and Shaheen. Here’s what’s coming up next: 

✅ 2nd Angel Investor Briefing at the end of February—DM us if you want to join!
✅ Web Summit Doha—exhibiting Shaheen to the MENA region at the Flat6Labs – StartMashreq stand.
✅ QUBIC Labs acceleration program—fine-tuning our Interoperable API.
✅ First blockchain-to-blockchain bridge—bringing cross-platform transactions to life.
✅ Mshreq UAE collaboration—amplifying Shaheen’s impact in the Levant.

We are building the future of global finance, and we invite you to be part of it. Whether you’re an investor, a fintech partner, or a community member excited about the potential of blockchain, we’d love to connect.

Let’s make finance truly borderless. 🚀

🔗 Interested in joining our investor briefing? Send us a DM!