Gospel Technology, the developer of an enterprise database built on blockchain technology, has announced a £5 million Series A funding round from IA Ventures and Salesforce Ventures. The deal marks one of the first investments by IA Ventures and Salesforce Ventures in blockchain technology.
Commenting on the announcement, Alex Kayyal, partner at Salesforce Ventures, the VC arm of the leading CRM software company, said:
“Salesforce Ventures looks to invest in the most innovative enterprise companies globally. We are excited to support Gospel’s vision of advancing enterprise data sharing through blockchain, and we look forward to having them work more closely with our customers.”
Roger Ehrenberg, managing partner at IA Ventures, said that blockchain has the potential to radically transform the way organizations collaborate and share data and improve productivity. “We are really excited to add Gospel Technology to our trailblazing community of talent and technology,” Ehrenberg said. “We are looking forward to seeing how the Gospel value proposition matures and how the company acts on its vision for businesses across the world.
The funding, which follows previous seed and angel funding from LocalGlobal in February 2018, will be used to expand Gospel Technology’s sales, marketing and partner programs as well as continue the development of its data collaboration platform and integration across existing and new applications and infrastructure, the startup said on Monday.
Founded in 2016 by tech entrepreneur Ian Smith, Gospel Technology is a London-based startup that has developed a blockchain platform for enterprise data aimed at simplifying processes and enabling cost savings.
At its core, Gospel is an enterprise database that provides complete control over how, when, what and who can access company data. The platform allows businesses and their partners to collaborate efficiently by enabling them to share trusted data with full auditability and accountability.
The company claims it is currently working with some of the UK’s biggest companies and although no names have been disclosed so far, Smith did tell Enterprise Times that the company has been getting traction from firms in sectors such as manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and business process outsourcing.
“What’s getting people excited about Gospel is that it has the potential to change enterprises’ relationship with their data,” said Teresa Cottam, chief analyst at Omnisperience, a UK-based analyst house and consultancy.
“It does this by bringing to market a breakthrough idea that fixes one of the biggest dilemmas of the Digital Economy: how to enable collaborative and flexible working without compromising on trust and security. In fact, one of the most surprising things about Gospel is why hasn’t somebody done this before?”