Data Gumbo Blockchain to open office in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
One would think that with decline in oil prices, companies would be swaying away from making investments in technologies, and digitization, but Data Gumbo has proven that this is not the case. UNLOCK interviewed Andrew Bruce, Chief Executive Officer, of Data Gumbo to talk about their plans in the region, the latest investment round and more.
Data Gumbo, known as the trusted transactional blockchain network, GumboNet, is ushering in a new era of digital transformation for capital intensive industries. The Company came into force four years ago and has now offices in the USA, Norway, and London and soon in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Bruce told UNLOCK it all started when an oil and gas company in the Gulf of Mexico said that if they could save a minute per drill in pipe line connection, they could potentially save 250 million USD but that this wasn’t happening because drilling contractors weren’t cooperating. When Bruce asked these contractors why they were not, they noted that they didn’t trust that oil gas companies would pay the bonus part of contract if they did so, as usually they would find faults with something so as not to pay. Bruce states, “From here came the idea of smart contracts intertwined with IoT ( Internet of things) to measure what is happening on rigs which would then trigger the terms of smart contracts.”
Bruce adds, “Our platform works for any industrial sector, and with any industrial contracts.” The Data Gumbo network enables real time visibility, with massive cost savings by harnessing the power of automated transactions through smart contracts.
Currently Data Gumbo is in production stage for two projects one in the USA and one in Europe both in the oil and gas industry.
Investment Rounds
Recently Data Gumbo went through its second round of investment after its first successful round last year where KSA Saudi Aramco were one of the key investors. Then again in September of 2020 Data Gumbo also went for a second investment round where once again Saudi Aramco invested. The investment opportunity is still open. As Bruce states, “We have an aim to raise 10 million USD of which we have already raised 5 million USD so we are still open for investors. We will be using these funds to expand globally and hire as we have a sales pipeline that increased to 132 from just six in April of this year and we need to satisfy our clients by expanding and hiring.”
Office in KSA
Most of the clients are in Asia, Brazil, USA, Europe and the MENA region. Bruce adds, “With regards to Saudi Aramco while we cannot discuss the exact amount, but they have invested multiple of millions. What we can say is that we will be setting up an office in KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and will hopefully be working with them soon.” As for the rest of the MENA region Bruce states, “We have several leads in the region and by having an office there we hope to win these leads.”
The strengths
When asked about what makes Data Gumbo a strong company to work with, Bruce explains, “We wrote our own Enterprise Blockchain platform that we have integrated with our IoT (Internet of Things) platform as well as with the smart contract features utilizing fiat as a currency not crypto. By automating the contracts we talk about real value with real dollars.”
In addition Data Gumbo has integrated IoT (Internet of things) with blockchain and machine learning. Bruce explains, “We are continuously learning and evolving our solution as we apply it to new industries and so we are adding more financial returns to our customers. Customers can visualize through our blockchain wall to see where their spending is in real time and as such can negotiate contracts accordingly. We use IoT sensors that report real time OPEX and CAPEX so customers can have more visibility going forward.”
In essence Data Gumbo is working on all aspect of the hydro carbon supply chain. In the future oil and gas companies might not even have to store oil, no inventory on shelves just like in the case of Wal-Mart.
The last two things that make Data Gumbo stand out is that it is offering its solution as blockchain as a service. Bruce states, “Companies don’t have to build the platform from scratch or even know what blockchain is, in a few days they can have the solution up and running and start negotiating their contracts in a secure manner.”
The Future
Bruce believes that what is happening in terms of smart contracts will have the same transformative feature as the internet had on the Amazons of this world. While still in its infancy, eventually it will create new business models, contract models and change businesses in the industrial scene.
