Dutch Startup unchain Launches Enterprise-Grade Blockchain Platform, Signs Energy PoC With Vattenfall

Amsterdam-based startup unchain.io on March 29^th, launched its Blockchain Gateway platform. The company also announced backing from the Dutch investor Han de Groot and an agreement with sustainable energy group Vattenfall to develop a blockchain use case for the energy industry.

Vattenfall, a major European producer and retailer of sustainable electricity and heat, serving markets in Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, the UK and Sweden, has signed unchain to develop a scalable blockchain Proof of Concept (PoC) for a specific energy industry use-case, according to a statement.

“We were looking for a partner with thorough knowledge of Hyperledger Fabric and who is capable of working with a corporate enterprise, “said Martijn Holtkamp, PoC initiative lead at Vattenfall, in the statement. “We selected unchain because they seemed to fit most of our requirements. Based on our experience working with them they proved to really live up to our expectations. Especially their open and flexible way of working and ability to hand-over their knowledge, [which] adds significant value to our journey in learning to develop Blockchain solutions.”

The amount of funding unchain received from de Groot was not disclosed by the company in its statement. Unchain did say it was a “major” amount and will allow the expansion of its product and business development.

Unchain said it is also working on a qualification for the Dutch Central Government’s Small Business Innovation Research program, to enable a ‘Self Sovereign Identity System’, on the blockchain, which will be easy to use and secure.

Unchain claims that its enterprise-grade blockchain integration platform, will enable organizations to securely connect to their blockchain technology of choice at scale. The company’s Blockchain Gateway is currently open to interested parties who are invited to register now for early access, the company said. General availability is expected from July 2018.

"Our offering addresses the clear and timely need for enterprises across all sectors that are moving their PoC’s to production and look for a fast, secure and standardized way to onboard their business network partners to realize the business potential for their respective networks," said unchain CEO Arjeh van Oijen, in a statement.