Evaluating only Sovrin Foundation’s profile at its peak — without knowing the outcome — the model ranked Competition as the #1 likely cause. Documented cause: Unit economics.
Key Events Timeline
FOUNDING
Sovrin Foundation spun out of Evernym to govern a public SSI network on distributed ledger.
PRODUCT LAUNCH
Sovrin MainNet launches with IBM, Cisco, T-Mobile as steward nodes.
DOWN ROUND
Steward fee collections fall critically short; operational budget unsustainable.
SHUTDOWN
Heather Dahl announces all 13 staff cut; Foundation ceases operations.
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Documented cause
The Sovrin Foundation, a nonprofit spun out of Evernym in 2016, built a self-sovereign identity (SSI) network using distributed ledger technology. Despite attracting prominent steward organizations including IBM, Cisco, and T-Mobile, the foundation ran out of operational funding by early 2020. In February 2020, executive director Heather Dahl announced the organization would cut all staff — approximately 13 employees — due to inability to raise sufficient steward fees and donations. The Sovrin network continued in limited form but the Foundation effectively ceased functioning.