Picture attached (from left): Won-Beom Kim, CEO and Founder of Blocko, Hisham Al Gurg, CEO of SEED Group and Phil Zamani, co-CEO of Blocko and CEO and founder of Aergo.
▸ Blocko has secured $16m in funding from Asia, and has a presence in South Korea, the UK and Hong Kong.
Samsung-backed Blocko, a leading blockchain provider, has launched in the UAE in partnership with SEED Group, a member of the Private Office of Sheikh Saeed bin Ahmed Al Maktoum.
Having already established a presence in South Korea, the UK and Hong Kong, Blocko secured $8.9m in funding in June 2018 and went on to secure a further $7.44m in a Series B+ round from Korea’s oldest bank, Shinhan, as well as KEB Hana Bank, LB Investment and Dadam Investment in August this year.
The company is now focusing efforts on bringing its Aergo platform to the Middle East, looking to replicate its success in Asia and Europe.
“We launched Aergo in response to the growing need for data sharing between industries and companies in areas such as identity verification, document management and the Internet of Things – the same areas in which the Middle East in particular is seeking practical solutions.”
– Phil Zamani, Co-CEO, Blocko and Founder & CEO, Aergo
In April 2018, the UAE Government launched the Emirates Blockchain Strategy 2021, which aims to capitalise on blockchain technology to transform 50 percent of government transactions into the blockchain platform by 2021.
By doing so, annuals savings of AED11bn ($3bn) are expected in transactions and documents processed routinely, as well as 398m printed documents and 77m work hours.
“The UAE and the wider Middle East region are constantly seeking advanced blockchain solutions for government and digital services. And so, we recognised the partnership with Blocko and Aergo as a solution to satisfy the increasing need for companies working at the highest level of scale and security,”
– Hisham Al Gurg, CEO, SEED Group and The Private Office of Sheikh Saeed bin Ahmed Al Maktoum
The company has already built 38 full-scale enterprise blockchain solutions in South Korea for companies like Samsung, Cisco, Hyundai Motors, and also Gyeonggi-do province.
ⓘ Source: Arabian Business
