Rise is building a blockchain development platform with dPoS consensus. Their protocol uses a Delegated Proof-of-Stake (dPoS) consensus mechanism and will be powered by the RISE coin. They hope to significantly improve transaction times and reduce fees, while providing developers with a tool set to create DApps in several programming languages.

Ubiq is an Ethereum fork that aims to create a more stable smart contract platform for building DApps. Ubiq's protocol currently uses a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism, but will switch to Proof-of-Stake in 2019. The network is powered by the UBQ coin.
Ubiq's goal is to create a reliable and stable platform for developing DApps by modifying Ethereum's code base with important changes that will make it more secure and reduce instability. Consensus is based on their Flux Difficulty Algorithm, which is designed to constantly adjust the hash rate to protect against network attacks.

Chain is a blockchain software company that creates blockchain-based systems for financial institutions and major companies. They've developed blockchain solutions for companies like Nasdaq, Visa, and Citigroup, as well as a variety of crytpocurrencies. Chain has been successful in incorporating distributed ledger technology in very large and influential companies. Their focus is on using the core innovations of blockchain to improve existing systems. Chain uses blockchain as a software tool that can be applied where it is important for services or product to have more trust, or to build a network without an intermediary