Ben Fairbank, CO-Founder & CEO, RFOX
Today, the world is rapidly becoming more digital than ever, but this pace of global progress threatens to leave behind a lot of people in developing regions such as Southeast Asia. Fortunately, many companies have made it their mission to ensure that everyone benefits from the digital revolution.
One such prominent company is RFOX, which focuses on digital inclusion and gives creators a fairer platform to reach wider audiences. Incepted in 2018, the company started as a blockchain venture builder and has concentrated on building a metaverse for retail and e-commerce. The company is also building several businesses that plug into the metaverse and operate in high-growth digital industries such as digital media, online gaming, and more.
RFOX’s solution to the challenge of digital inclusion is creating a metaverse that connects people, companies, and other entities in a virtual world interconnected via different points of access such as PC, mobile, virtual headsets, and more. Through this immersive platform called the RFOX VALT, businesses and creators can tap into tools for DeFi (decentralized finance), gaming, VR, NFTs (non-fungible tokens), e-commerce, and retail, enabling them to market to a ready-made audience of users. In this metaverse, users can onboard simply, are rewarded for their engagement, and gain access to the digital economy with low barriers of entry on their end.
Surpassing Challenges since Inception
Initially, RFOX faced the major challenge of finding talented people who are qualified and available to quickly build its ecosystem in Southeast Asia, where the company launched operations. To add to that challenge, RFOX launched its namesake digital asset in 2019, in the middle of a bear market for crypto.
“We had an extended period both leading up to the launch and up until the end of 2020, where we were operating a lean and self-funded team to try and build multiple businesses at one time without outside funding,” asserts Ben Fairbank, Co-Founder, and CEO of RFOX. The company pivoted to have a central platform in the metaverse that allowed all businesses to share its ecosystem customer base.
Today, RFOX has grown from a bootstrapped team of 4 people to 85 core people across 15 countries. “This has all happened due to the launch of products, the ongoing build-out of our ecosystem, and a model that allows us to remain lean but still scale,” said Ben. As a result, RFOX has evolved into a multi-venture company with products and solutions that have launched one after another in 2021, with more to be launched within two to three years. The CEO added, “Most of that development and building has transpired in 2021. We had 2.5 years to refine our model, improve our strategy, and research our target markets, which we believe gives us an extreme competitive advantage.”
Over the past 12 months, the RFOX ecosystem grew by leaps and bounds. The company introduced its DeFi venture RFOX Finance in April 2021, launched its digital media venture RFOX Media in September 2021 (following the acquisition of MyMedia Myanmar in March 2021), and revealed a new RFOX NFTs platform in February 2022. The core RFOX VALT metaverse platform the company is building has completed two virtual land sales in September and December 2021, while gaming venture RFOX Games made its debut game KOGs: SLAM! available in open beta in November 2021. This year, RFOX is aiming to complete two more virtual land sales in the RFOX VALT and roll out more of its products and solutions.
Keeping Customers at the Core
While many factors contributed to the success story of RFOX, one key element which differentiates the company from the rest is its client-centric approach, which is visible in its operational philosophy. “We build long-lasting relationships or at least enter all discussions from that viewpoint. We do not believe in quick, short-term partnerships that mine revenue from the community and do not add long-term value. Our customers, especially in these initial stages, must be forward-thinking, have a longer-term plan that is scalable and sustainable, and they must provide value back to the RFOX holders and community in some capacity,” Ben noted. RFOX works with the customers, helps them build their plans and strategies, and informs them about upcoming products and services, that help them to plan better.
The company’s goal is to provide a platform that is truly interoperable and ensures both creators and users are rewarded fairly for their time, RFOX acts as the introduction service between these parties and provides them all with large audiences and tech to bring their ideas to life. It also aspires to let communities build out sustainable ecosystems. In addition to its customer-centric service, the winning culture at RFOX has also played a crucial role in its success story. The company believes in five core values:
People First – People before numbers
Trust – Radical Transparency
Create – Find solutions to problems
Connect – Work with your peers to achieve more
Commit – Always see something through to the end, regardless of the challenges
Fulfilling the Vision
RFOX has come a long way since its inception and has zeroed in on its strategy to remain agile and flexible. According to Ben, the digital space is moving extremely fast, and if the company focused on one thing, it may become the flavor of the month in one moment and then forget the next. The company is looking forward to officially launching the RFOX VALT metaverse in VR and bringing Web 3.0 to existing Web 2.0 businesses, as well as ushering in a new generation of users who will only ever know blockchain and metaverses.
“We are on the right side of history, and nothing is more motivational for the team than knowing we have an opportunity to write a part of the way forward. We look forward to making everyone look at the world a little differently and disrupting the way things are currently done,” concludes Ben.