Saudi Aramco Ventures Backed Data Gumbo Blockchain company opens its office in KSA

Saudi Aramco Ventures backed Data Gumbo, the industrial smart contract network company opens its office in Khobar, KSA Saudi Arabia. As per the press release, the new location will accelerate regional traction with leading industrial enterprises and continue the company’s record growth on a global scale. Data Gumbo is establishing a local presence to take advantage of the regional business opportunities ripe for smart contract network adoption.

In August 2021, Data Gumbo closed $7.7M in Series B funding. with renewed investments from Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures. This was the third time Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures invested in Data Gumbo. Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures is the corporate venture capital fund of Aramco Ventures. Prior to this Saudi Aramco had invested in Data Gumbo back in 2019 and then again in 2020.

The funding has allowed Data Gumbo to expand global operations and enable accurate, on-time and automated invoicing and payments in additional use cases and verticals. With its office in Khobar KSA, Data Gumbo is making its smart contract network available to the $652 billion Middle East energy market and beyond.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and broader Middle East present outstanding opportunities for our company. We are committed to putting down roots, and to the long-term growth of a Data Gumbo workforce in the Kingdom and beyond,” said Andrew Bruce, CEO, Data Gumbo. “Establishing a regional office provides companies in the Greater Middle East with increased access to our smart contract network, GumboNet. The more the network grows, the more value it delivers to local and global members, as well as investors. We look forward to expanding our presence to best support demand and set the standard for how industrial organizations do business by guaranteeing transactional certainty in commercial relationships.”

Bruce told UNLOCK when asked if they had current clients in the region, "We are not currently working with clients in the region but are opening a regional office to do so. Saudi Aramco are investors and are the driving force behind our expansion. We are seeing considerable interest in implementing blockchain solutions in the region and globally. The implementations have switched from kicking the tires to full blown production installs, as seen by our recently announced deal with Equinor.

Data Gumbo had expressed its intention to open an office in KSA since 2020, where Andrew Bruce in an interview with UNLOCK stated that Data Gumbo would open offices in KSA in the future.

Mohamed Ibrahim Marzouk, recently appointed as Data Gumbo’s Saudi Arabia Country Manager, brings more than 20 years of experience in business development leadership roles with multinational energy companies and will lead regional expansion. Powered by GumboNet™, the only network of industrial enterprises and their customers, suppliers and vendors that successfully incorporates real-time sensor level and field data to validate transactions, Data Gumbo smart contracts enable organizations to streamline operations and shorten long payment cycles. GumboNet provides a single immutable record of truth and synchronizes data across parties for complete transparency to significantly reduce transaction costs and build trust among network members.

When UNLOCK asked if they will expand to other countries in the region and other industries, Bruce replied, " Yes, we will expand to other jurisdictions in the region. This is driven by considerable interest in our 45+ smart contracts that are ready to be deployed out of the box. This includes the oil and gas industry - including clean energy, but also any industry that hauls commodities. We are completely vertical agnostic. It doesn't matter what commodity you are hauling, you can save 10% or more of the expense of your commodity with GumboNet."

To date, Data Gumbo has received equity funding with Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, the venture subsidiary of Saudi Aramco; Equinor Ventures, the venture subsidiary of Equinor, Norway’s leading energy operator; and L37, a hybrid venture capital and private equity company. Data Gumbo is headquartered in Houston, Texas, with global offices in Stavanger, Norway, Khobar, Saudi Arabia, and London, UK.