Josiah Kotzur is the founder and CEO of DeStore Network and a Senior Polkadot Ambassador for Australasia. He has spent five years building provenance infrastructure for physical goods — starting as PolkaRock in 2021, among the first projects anchoring real-world assets to permanent records on Polkadot, and now Australia’s dedicated GS1 Digital Link and Digital Product Passport platform. His work was selected for Sony’s innovation incubator with Astar Network, delivering the first Sony product anchored to a public ledger. An opal miner from outback Queensland, he appeared on Discovery Channel’s Outback Opal Hunters and sold the world’s first opal carrying an on-chain provenance record. He previously ran a marine engineering business in Darwin.
Experience: 8 years
Yearly salary: $120,000
Hourly rate: $60
Nationality: 🇦🇺 Australia
Residency: 🇦🇺 Australia
Experience
Founder
Kotzur Marine Industries TA DeStore 2022 - 2025
Senior Polkadot Ambassador & CEO DeStore Network / Polkadot Ecosystem (Remote) Jul 2019 – Present Sydney / Byron Bay / Global Key Achievements: Founded DeStore Network, the first hybrid marketplace on Polkadot. - Led full-cycle delivery from concept, fundraising, community activation, and product deployment. - Discovery Channel’s Opal Hunters, blending Web3 storytelling with mass media. - Coordinated 9 grantees in the Phragmèn Initiative Fund (PIF); delivered reporting, KPI tracking, and governance alignment. - Built and managed onboarding frameworks for the Polkadot Ambassador Fellowship; led workshops and strategy design. Key Skills: - Web3 project leadership & ecosystem growth - Community engagement, PR, and KOL strategy - Product & go-to-market execution - Governance participation and grant management - Cross-functional coordination (technical + creative)
Director
Kotzur Marine Industries Trading as Offshore Fabrications 2014 - 2022
Nov 2014 – Dec 2022 Clients: Neptune Asset Integrity, Mermaid Marine Offshore, Toll Marine Logistics, Sea Swift, Bureau of Meteorology, Coral Expeditions, Toll INPEX, Northern Territory Government, YWAM Medical Ships Key Achievements: - Managed marine vessel refits and turnkey projects with budgets up to $1.2M, delivered on time and within scope. - Coordinated subcontractors and internal teams to streamline project execution. - Delivered detailed project status and financial reports to clients and classification societies.
Skills
