London-based tech startup Applied Blockchain raises $2.5M funding to enable companies to collaborate without having to share any of their data

Companies face increasing cybersecurity risks and regulatory requirements in regards to their data, and these are further exacerbated as data leaves an organisation and is shared with others. Recent events mean that businesses are going to become even more digital, and this means that companies will have to improve the way they handle private and sensitive data.

Enter Applied Blockchain, a London-based tech startup building a platform to meet the demands of our enterprise clients to do more with their data, while keeping it safe, secure and private. Applied Blockchain has already started working with its growing enterprise client base to test the platform in their respective markets, including energy, shipping, aviation, automotive, telecoms and financial services, demonstrating that it substantially improves their data security and data privacy.

Today, Applied Blockchain announced it has closed $2.5 million (£2 million) funding to invest in developing a platform using privacy enhancing technologies to help companies to collaborate and generate meaningful outcomes together, without having to share any of their data. The round was led by Hong Kong based venture capital firm QBN Capital.

Co-founded in 2016 by Adi Ben-Ari, Applied Blockchain is a blockchain applications development company, focusing on distributed ledger technology and smart contracts. To date, Applied Blockchain has developed over 70 distributed solutions for both start-ups and corporates, and was selected by Shell to build and deploy the first distributed platform for energy derivative trading, which has been live in production since 2018. Shell also lead the seed investment round in 2017.

The company founders each come with 20+ years experience of enterprise IT architecture, big data, AI, integration and solution delivery in telecoms and banking. Using this experience, Applied Blockchain builds solutions that incorporate components such as privacy, security and integration, independently audited by third parties, and ready for use by enterprise clients that operate in regulated markets.

Adi Ben-Ari, founder and CEO Applied Blockchain, said: “We are very excited to be building a platform to meet the demands of our enterprise clients to do more with their data, while keeping it safe, secure and private. We have now received funding from a strategic venture capital firm, QBN Capital, and we look forward to further developing our privacy preserving technology and working with them to extend our reach into the Asian markets.”

Philea Chim at QBN Capital said: “Governments, corporates, and individuals are increasingly concerned about data privacy and data security. We believe zero knowledge proof offers a new and better way to share and handle data. We are very excited to be supporting Applied Blockchain, a pioneer in this space, and we can’t wait to see an abundance of applications for ZKP coming out in the near future.”