# Retrospective

Velocity Career Labs (VCL), a venture-backed Delaware corporation established in early 2019 and headquartered in Colorado, has been pivotal in the development of the Velocity Network. VCL initiated the project and drove its multiyear pre-launch phase, uniting industry stakeholders to reach consensus on Velocity as the next-generation data utility layer for proving qualifications in business and the labor market.

During this phase, VCL developed the Velocity Protocol and its underlying technology, open-sourcing it to encourage contributions and innovation across the ecosystem. The company also developed and launched the first wallet for the Velocity ecosystem and led the network’s proof-of-concepts and the successful Mainnet launch.

The [Velocity Network Foundation®](https://www.velocitynetwork.foundation/) is a non-profit steward of the Velocity Network, supporting and growing the ecosystem as it becomes self-sufficient. The Foundation was registered as a Delaware non-stock corporation in late 2019 and received its 501C6 non-profit tax exemption status soon after.

We chose the labor market as the first ecosystem to focus our efforts on because it presents a clear and immediate need for trusted, verifiable data. Following an extensive multi-year pre-launch phase, The labor market credentialing ecosystem was successfully launched in 2023 backed by the world’s most influential labor market associations, NGOs, and top software vendors serving work and education, this live ecosystem is gaining strong traction—with over 1 million users and millions of credentials already issued by hundreds of institutions.

<figure><img src="/files/46MIZ5cCRbv0GqMaYmMi" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Network stakeholders, including large enterprises, universities, licensing registries, and governments, are often conservative, risk-averse, and slow to adopt new technologies, particularly in heavily regulated areas like personal data exchange and employment. To address these challenges, we have embraced a progressive, incremental approach to decentralizing Velocity Network.

**Thanks to the community’s dedicated efforts, we’ve exceeded even our most ambitious goals. Now, the Velocity community is ready to take the next step in its decentralization journey: launching the Velocity Oracle Network and introducing $VLCT — a publicly traded native utility token.**

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