THE GREY AREA

(Photo: Fintech entrepreneur Christopher Grey is the co-founder of CapLinked, a cutting-edge virtual data room. He is now taking his acumen and insight to the crypto world with his new initiative, TransitNet.)

Imagine a single cloud-based platform serving as a central one-stop repository for conducting the financial transactions that power the economy, from real estate deals to mergers and acquisitions that disrupt industries.

Financial investor and Fintech entrepreneur Christopher Grey recognized the need for such a space for securely facilitating transactions for clients ranging from major corporations to mom-and-pop shops and sole proprietor startups when he co-founded CapLinked, the first open application program interface (API) in the document sharing industry.

CapLinked is used for multi-party sharing of sensitive, confidential information, such as applications, licensing details, intellectual property, mining and energy projects, and financial transactions. “While the transaction itself may be similar to those using a traditional platform, this format facilitates greater security, tracking and reporting,” Grey says.

The Manhattan Beach, Calif. startup provides a unique value-add in its efficiency and transparency: Users get started within their personalized workspace within 10 minutes, using any device – desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile.

In a world of cybersecurity threats, CapLinked prioritizes data security and privacy with certifications including ISO, CITBA and PCPI, all of which are audited by third parties. “We have protections on our servers that have the most secure protocols for accessing that are available, including top-of-the-line encryption,” Grey says. “We are at the highest levels in terms of what is considered best practices for information control and protection, both in terms of our own data on our systems and the data you share with us.”

Taking Digital Sharing to the Crypto World

The rapidly growing world of cryptocurrencies present a new frontier for cloud data sharing and communication, as professionals and companies in the field seek to verify their assets. Recognizing the potential in this space, Grey is developing TransitNet, a blockchain initiative to make the exchange of crypto assets more secure and transparent.

“We are focusing on providing change of title and ownership verification for crypto assets. This would be used to help people make sure there is a clear change of title and ownership,” he says. “With our background in securing, validating and protecting our information, we think that TransitNet builds on and will use a lot of CapLinked distinct technology through our API to develop and implement the TransitNet for launching projects through crypto.”

Grey foresees a future in which financial reporting and corporate governance for the crypto market would utilize TransitNet. “Specifically, for corporate governance, this would be using the blockchain to facilitate and then record that coding that would take place for corporate decisions that might be made for crypto currency, particularly tokenized offerings, or security token offerings, as they are also called,” he says.

The Amazon Inspiration

For Grey, a Stanford University economics alumnus, the success of earlier tech entrepreneurs serves as an inspiration as he impacts the Fintech market. He particularly points to the success of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

“Clearly, he is the leader in the tech industry, someone who started a company 25 years ago from nothing, who used to literally get in his own car and drive Amazon packages to the post office. When he started, he had a minimal amount of money in his garage in Seattle and is now one of the largest companies in the world, with 500,000 employees, the wealthiest person in the world on paper,” Grey says. “I don’t think it is very likely to have that kind of success, but you can look at what he started and what he accomplished and recognize that, as an entrepreneur, this is someone to emulate.”

Working to inspire others is also a passion for Grey, who has recently joined the Forbes Los Angeles Business Council, an invitation-based network of professionals seeking to make an impact through thought leadership. Among Grey’s articles, which he promotes on his Twitter profile, is “Who Are You? And Why Does It Matter?,” examining the keys to fulfillment as a person and professional.

“Success in life can be measured by how much of your time you spend doing the things you really want to do,” he says. “This is the path to the best kind of success, which is making yourself and others around you better off.”

Copyright © 2018 California Business Journal. All Rights Reserved.