# Branimir Rakić > Branimir Rakić is a Co-founder and CTO of Trace Labs – OriginTrail, who has a background in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Belgrade. - Canonical URL: https://iq.wiki/wiki/branimir-rakic - Categories: People in crypto - Tags: Founder - Created: 2023-10-18T16:36:50.000Z - Last updated: 2023-10-18T15:36:52.491Z - Source: IQ.wiki — the world's largest blockchain and crypto encyclopedia (https://iq.wiki) --- **Branimir Rakić** is a Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of [Trace Labs](https://iq.wiki/wiki/trace-labs) – [OriginTrail](https://iq.wiki/wiki/origintrail) core developers. [OriginTrail](https://iq.wiki/wiki/origintrail) is a [web3](https://iq.wiki/wiki/web3) infrastructure project combining a decentralized knowledge graph (DKG) and [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) technologies to create a neutral, inclusive ecosystem. [\[1\]](#cite-id-izvor15r32h)[\[2\]](#cite-id-myug70hn5y) # Education In 2009, Branimir Rakić participated in a year-long exchange program (Forecast Exchange) at Tennessee Technological University as an exchange student in Telecom & IT. In 2006, he studied at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Telecom Dept., University of Belgrade for a Master of Science (MSc) degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering. [\[1\]](#cite-id-izvor15r32h) # Career Branimir Rakić began his career in 2008 as a Freelance Web Developer. In December 2011, he served as a Network testing engineer at P3 Communications until September 2013. Afterward, he became a Web Department Lecturer at SAE Institute until December 2014. [\[1\]](#cite-id-izvor15r32h) ## OriginTrail In September 2013, Branimir Rakić co-founded [Trace Labs](https://iq.wiki/wiki/trace-labs) and [OriginTrail](https://iq.wiki/wiki/origintrail) alongside [Tomaž Levak](https://iq.wiki/wiki/tomaz-levak) and [Žiga Drev](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ziga-drev) and he serves as the CTO of the organization. The platform was created to address traceability issues in food supply chains, where lack of trust and interoperability was a major challenge. The founders developed a decentralized solution utilizing [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) technology which was launched through an [initial coin offering](https://iq.wiki/wiki/initial-coin-offering) (ICO) in 2017 and raised $22.5 million from investors. [\[2\]](#cite-id-myug70hn5y) > "We started as a startup. The first version of OriginTrail was a rudimentary version of what is it today. It was designed to track physical items & objects starting in the food industry and supply chain items" - Branimir Rakić on how he got started with OriginTrail[\[5\]](#cite-id-69ukvb3lxae) [OriginTrail](https://iq.wiki/wiki/origintrail) has its own native token known as Trace (TRAC). TRAC is an [ERC-20](https://iq.wiki/wiki/erc-20) token created on the [Ethereum blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum). It can be used as a payment method for data exchange services on the OriginTrail network and also to incentivize stakeholders to carry out actions that deliver value for the ecosystem as a whole. There is a maximum supply of 500 million TRAC tokens. Plus, all TRAC tokens in circulation were pre-mined during the [initial coin offering](https://iq.wiki/wiki/initial-coin-offering) (ICO) in January 2018. [\[3\]](#cite-id-fa2rgiyhm9) OriginTrail connects to multiple [blockchains](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain), such as [Ethereum](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum), [Polkadot](https://iq.wiki/wiki/polkadot) (via OriginTrail Parachain), [Polygon](https://iq.wiki/wiki/polygon), [Gnosis](https://iq.wiki/wiki/gnosis), and more to come. It is fuelled by the TRAC token, which is used to manage relations between DKG network participants. [\[4\]](#cite-id-u2j53iqo53) > "From the get-go, OriginTrail as a decentralized system was envisioned to be a multi-chain. > > We started on Ethereum back in 2018, a couple of years later expanded to 2 more blockchains, which are Gnosis & Polygon blockchain. A couple of months ago, we launched a new blockchain called OriginTrail Parachain which is an actual blockchain on Polkadot." - > Branimir Rakic explained in an interview[\[5\]](#cite-id-69ukvb3lxae) OriginTrail Parachain also introduces a native OriginTrail Parachain token (OTP token) which is a utility asset that is not only used for [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) [gas fees](https://iq.wiki/wiki/gas) and inclusive governance but also enables a way to incentivize the growth of DKG (decentralized knowledge graph) usage. [\[4\]](#cite-id-u2j53iqo53)