VHS’ triple threat - crypto, blockchain, and cloud ERP

Virtually Human Studio – or the ironic acronym VHS – is an Australian digital-first company founded in 2018 that has pioneered a winning Web3 combination of gaming, sports, mixed reality experiences and digital assets. If you haven't heard of VHS, you may have heard of Zed Run, their virtual horse racing platform that lives in the blockchain.

In Zed Run, horse racing enthusiasts can buy, sell and race their horses across digital tracks in the blockchain, competing for glory and crypto rewards. It's become a virtual phenomenon where digital steeds have been known to command six-figure sums and worldwide players total over 80,000 at last count. Since launching in 2019, Zed Run has redefined virtual sports, hosting over 1 million races and creating an engaged community of players eager to breed, race, and trade their stable of horses to trackside success.

The rapid success has seen VHS become a key player in Australia's digital start-up scene - where unicorns are beginning to emerge with increasing frequency. Their rapid growth also reflects the broader trend in the Australian start-up ecosystem towards embracing emerging technologies to drive success on a global stage.

VHS represents a new breed of business that melds non-fungible tokens (NFTs), cryptocurrencies, and blockchain technology. Yet, despite their innovative edge, they still encounter challenges similar to those faced by traditional businesses - scaling operations, streamlining processes, and managing complex financial transactions.

As Zed Run's popularity soared, the surge in transactions and crypto activities started to outpace the capabilities of their existing software, Xero. With their sights set on expansion, they began to assess enterprise-grade ERP systems - including SAP and NetSuite - that could integrate with automated cryptocurrency processing while also handling their financial and operational demands. At the same time, they needed to track down a solution provider with experience in their space.

"The main objective we pursued was the blockchain integration with our accounting systems," said Rajib Banerjee, Head of FP&A and Blockchain Reporting, Virtually Human, "It was important that we work with a solution provider that had built a solution for an exchange before because we needed to handle a very high volume of transactions, and be able to scale in the future."

Annexa is a NetSuite solution provider that works with ANZ businesses to deliver customised, end-to-end cloud ERP solutions, and one sector we particularly focus on is digital-first companies. For VHS, our ability to integrate cryptocurrency exchange and blockchain into NetSuite's platform led to a partnership that would see VHS' capability wish list come to life. 

First, NetSuite's financial capabilities have provided VHS with the controls needed to handle financial consolidation & reporting, multi-currency conversions, and inter-company transactions on a single platform. 

NetSuite's extensibility caters to diverse use cases, in VHS' case, through the integration of Annexa's bespoke cryptocurrency module. This module connects with cryptocurrency data aggregators to retrieve exchange rates for all cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum. It integrates these cryptocurrencies into NetSuite's native currency and foreign exchange (FX) tables, enabling the conversion and reporting of financial results back to VHS' base fiat currency, no matter the cryptocurrencies involved in their transactions. In essence, VHS are able to leverage NetSuite's financial reporting capabilities alongside their use of cryptocurrency. 

This supports VHS operations in a number of ways:

• Almost real-time conversion rates for cryptocurrencies keep financial records up-to-date and accurate.
• By integrating cryptocurrencies into the native financial reporting system, it's easier to generate financial statements that reflect true financial health.
• VHS are better able to maintain compliance with financial regulations via a clear audit trail of cryptocurrency transactions within the familiar framework of NetSuite's FX tables.
• Significant reduction in the manual effort required to track and convert cryptocurrency transactions 
• A comprehensive view of finances, including crypto assets, directly within NetSuite's dashboard supports more informed decision-making

Or, as Banerjee explains, "NetSuite allowed us to automate the actual for our blockchain activity and set up automated journal entries to streamline the accounting process. So that's been a big win for us."

Today, VHS is on the fast track to global expansion. No longer saddled with the limitations of conventional financial systems, they're equipped with a scalable and state-of-the-art system that keeps them ahead of the pack with efficient financial consolidation, seamless multi-currency conversion, and transparent inter-company transactions.

Learn more about VHS cloud ERP transformation or Annexa's cryptocurrency module.