Samuel Dionne’s background is rather hectic. He was in the Canadian Army in communication for multiple years and was already well aware of cryptocurrencies since he was a past user. It made him develop an interest in the distributed ledger (blockchain) technology. After his return into the civilian world; his interest was stronger than ever, and he decided to found his own company to work in a field he was already familiar with: communications.
Samuel ca you explain us what Gremis is about?
To put it up in a simple way, Gremis is a communication agency working solely with companies in the Fintech / blockchain industry. We have a strong knowledge of the ecosystem and profoundly understand the community behind it, which makes our services rather effective. Our main focus is building and nurturing communities through cutting edge communication techniques, ranging from 24/7 live support to the production of educational content.
Where do you operate?
Gremis is based in the Crypto Valley of Switzerland (Zug) and in Montréal (Canada).
What has changed in the last year since we interviewed you?
Well, a lot! Naming all of them would take too long, but primarily, we’ve opened a branch in Montréal (as stated above), which now makes us a Swiss-Canadian company. We’ve also changed our branding (we’re still working on adjusting everything to perfection).
How did you grow in terms of employees and geographically?
To contribute to the question above, we technically went from 0 to 20 team members in the last year (since well, let’s remember that Gremis is only 1 year old!). Geographically, we are spread between more than 7 countries, with a certain dominance in Canada.
Have you changed any strategic directions?
We do everyday. Companies in the blockchain sphere are subject to a lot of changes since the technology is always evolving; we therefore have to follow the same way. In term of strategies, we’ve mainly started to develop more in the area of public relations.
Who are your main customers?
Our customers are often mid-stage companies who have a product based on a blockchain (or are planning to develop one) and require assistance in their communication. Sometimes, they do not have the required internal resources or need an expert view on their current solution (to complement or improve).
What is the idea behind remote workplaces? How does it benefit Gremis?
Freedom. It is that simple. I’ve always believed that it’s important to allow someone the air they need to fully develop and be at their maximum capacities. Allowing our team members to work from home is one of the key elements of our efficiency. They are free to work with other companies as well (or their own), as long as they do what they have to do, and it meets our standard. I mean, why not? The quality of our services is not diminished (actually, it is quite the opposite) and everyone is happy.
It benefits us and them in many ways. Since our fixed costs are rather low (no offices or large recurring payments), we’re able to offer our services at a really competitive price compared to, let’s say, the usual full-time employee agency. It is also one of the reasons why we don’t work with an hour-rate basis.
What are the next steps?
Learning more. We want to learn more, get better at what we do and evolve. One of our big goals is also to develop the Canadian ecosystem via various means; but it is a little too early to talk about that.
Is BC or Vancouver a target place for the future?
It’s always been a target place. Vancouver is a niche of Financial Technology, much like Toronto. While being a prime location in terms of market, it is also, unfortunately, one of the most expensive cities in the world. This can therefore create a barrier when comes the time to explore its full potential.
What is the situation in the cryptocurrency market? Are there any changes or trends happening or predicted?
On a general view, things have not been doing too well. There has been a major downtrend in the past months. From my perspective, it does not reflect on the technology in itself. Let’s not forget that cryptocurrencies are traded in a market that is really emotional and not yet mature. They are also only one of the many usages you can have with a blockchain.
I believe that we’ll soon enter in a development phase that will last a couple of years before the technology comes up as a tangible solution toward the mainstream audience.
Thank you Samuel for taking the time, we appreciate your update very much.
If you want to learn more about Blockchain, please read the article Samuel wrote for the Swiss Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Ontario: