Today, blockchain traceability firm Everledger announced it raised $7 million in bridge funding from the UK Government’s Future Fund and Tencent. The Future Fund provides COVID-19 convertible loans which must be matched by private investors.
Tencent, the owner of China’s largest social media app WeChat, participated in last year’s Series A funding round, which raised $20 million. Soon after, Everledger launched a WeChat Mini Program for Chinese diamond retailers.
In today’s announcement, Everledger CEO Leanne Kemp revealed that a partnership with a Chinese e-commerce company would be announced later this year.
UK-based Everledger has developed a provenance platform for diamonds, gemstones, fine wine, and luxury goods, among other things. The solution creates an immutable record of the product’s origin, characteristics, and ownership.
Everledger platform upgrade
At the same time the company unveiled an upgrade to the Everledger platform to support the recovery of the diamond industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The platform will now enable buyers to search based on credentials, sustainability footprint, and compliance standards. The new addition was positioned as a ‘demand generation’ feature and includes a match making tool.
“The upgrades improve usability for everyone on the platform, with a state-of-the-art user interface that enables a single view and quick access to information with intuitive commands,” said Tom Murphy, Head of Product at Everledger. “The platform will be more visual, with enhanced graphics such as
badges and analytics.”
The new update is focused on the diamond industry, and it will be scaled to include fine wines, gemstones, e-waste, apparel, and luxury goods.
A few months ago, Everledger launched a carbon offsetting platform for the diamond industry backed by emissions data on the blockchain. Last year, it was awarded funding by the U.S. Department of Energy to pilot blockchain for electric vehicle battery recycling and its working with fellow blockchain startup Circulor on standards for ethical sourcing.
