London-based Finboot raises $3.34 million to unlock the power of enterprise blockchain

Finboot, a London, England-based blockchain startup announced today it has secured $3.34 million (£2.4 million) in equity investment from investors including the Development Bank of Wales, the multi-energy company Repsol, through its private equity investment fund Repsol Corporate Venturing, and New Look founder Tom Singh, who was the company’s original lead investor in 2018.

Founded in 2016 by Nish Kotecha, Angel Pateiro, Carlos Abellan, and Juan Miguel Perez, Finboot is the SaaS company behind MARCO, a unique production-ready suite of blockchain applications and middleware solutions that unlock blockchain capabilities for enterprises. Finboot has offices in London and Barcelona.

Finboot has demonstrated the capacity of MARCO to allow enterprises to rapidly experiment and validate their blockchain business cases and efficiently move them to production. From its ability to minimize complexities to providing exceptional privacy and security to users, MARCO reduces cost and accelerates interactions to help businesses grow faster and more efficiently.

Within corporate structures, there are many examples of how MARCO can be applied to dramatically improve frictions within physical and financial operations. Traceability and quality control in the downstream of Oil & Gas, certified environmental sustainability of ready-made garments and invoice reconciliation in airport logistics are some of the business cases successfully implemented with MARCO.

Finboot recently announced engagements with Repsol, global chemistry supplier Stahl, leading international fashion brand Desigual, Spanish AgriTech business Fidesterra, the London Chamber of Arbitration and Mediation, and Minexx, which traces and secures the mineral supply chain in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Finboot’s longstanding relationship with Repsol dates back to October 2017, when it was chosen to take part in Fundación Repsol’s start-up acceleration program, Entrepreneurs Fund. Repsol announced in January 2019 that it would be implementing BlockLabs (a blockchain solution powered by MARCO) to improve the certification process of petrochemical products, thereby driving supply chain efficiencies and supporting ESG standards. Repsol affirmed its confidence in MARCO by making its first investment in Finboot through Repsol Corporate Venturing in July 2019. BlockLabs has since been rolled out and implemented in the majority of Repsol’s energy complexes.

With demand for enterprise blockchain solutions increasing globally, Finboot identified Wales as being the most attractive place from which to capitalize on the growing number of business opportunities, including those in the fintech space. Finboot will become part of Wales’ growing blockchain community, which is supported by the country’s newly-formed, dedicated blockchain network Blockchain Connected. With the support of the Development Bank of Wales, Finboot’s diverse and talented management team expects to create a number of highly-skilled technical jobs in Cardiff.

Nish Kotecha, Chairman and Co-Founder of Finboot, said: “We are very pleased to welcome the Development Bank of Wales to the Finboot family as we establish our presence in Wales to capitalize on the many opportunities here, and to continue our relationship with Repsol as both an investor and customer. Securing this equity investment means that we can further build on the accelerating momentum of the past four years by investing in hiring new talent, sales & marketing, research & development, and our world-class technology. We are ambitious and these funds will support us on our journey to becoming a world-leading provider of enterprise blockchain software globally.

“The need for blockchain technology solutions such as MARCO has never been greater. The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on the fragility of supply chains around the world, leading to a sharp acceleration of digitalization. Simultaneously, ESG has become a key business imperative as corporates are under ever-increasing scrutiny from regulators, consumers, and shareholders to build back better. This has driven the need for transparency and visibility throughout processes, supply chains, and value chains. MARCO creates efficiencies and optimizes processes, while also improving companies’ sustainability credentials and reporting procedures. We look forward to helping many more enterprises unlock the potential of blockchain in the years to come.”

According to Deloitte’s 2020 Global Blockchain Survey, the momentum behind enterprise blockchain continues to build, with business leaders seeing it as “integral to organizational innovation.” The technology has come a long way since its origins as the foundation of cryptocurrency, which itself goes from strength to strength as bitcoin wins mainstream institutional acceptance as an alternative asset class: today, over 75% of CIOs consider blockchain a strategic priority or mission-critical technology (Wipro).