Saudi Aramco, Equinor Back Up Blockchain Startup Data Gumbo

Blockchain startup Data Gumbo announced a $4 million Series C funding round from the venture arms of Saudi Aramco and Equinor, which are both existing investors. They first backed the firm in its $6m Series A and also participated in its $7.7 million Series B that included venture capital firm L37.

Data Gumbo currently provides enterprise blockchain solutions to the energy sector. Given suppliers to the industry include commodity haulage, trucking and shipping, Data Gumbo has already expanded into these sectors and plans to add others. It uses Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to trigger confirmations that enable payments to be automatically released.

In January, it announced that Equinor had contracted the startup to use smart contracts to manage contracts and invoicing for its oil drilling and web services. During trials, the automation tool created accurate invoices 99.7% of the time without manual input.

“Over the past two years, through our internal and external efforts, we have learned a great deal about how distributed ledger technology enables efficiencies and cost savings in our operations”, said Gareth Burns, VP Equinor Ventures.

“We believe now is the time to put that knowledge to work by continuing to support the market leader in this space and to realize value by implementing their technology", he added.

The company’s blockchain network, GumboNet, now has 180 companies with nodes.

In June, William Fox stepped into the Data Gumbo CEO position following his four-year stint as Chief Product Officer. Founder and former CEO Andrew Bruce is still with the company.

One of the other big players in the oil extraction sector is the Blockchain for Energy consortium. Back in 2019, Blockchain for Energy – then known as OOC – ran a pilot for water management with Data Gumbo. At that stage, Equinor was a consortium member, but it isn’t anymore.

Rebecca Hofmann, the founder and CEO of the Blockchain for Energy consortium, previously led Equinor’s blockchain initiative.