LONDON, Oct. 2, 2020 — nChain, a world-leading provider of enterprise-grade public blockchain solutions, today announces a lead investment in GeoSpock, the Cambridge-based pioneer of world-scale data analysis and integration. nChain co-leads the $5.4M Series A investment round with Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC) and includes investments from leading technology investors in Asia, including Global Brain and NTT DOCOMO. nChain is strategically aligned with the other investors in foreseeing the immense future growth of GeoSpock. This transformational round will underpin GeoSpock’s further international expansion and set the stage for unprecedented opportunity to develop novel blockchain applications for national and world-scale datasets.
Speaking on the investment, nChain CEO David Washburn remarked: “Like any other resource, data must be mined and then further refined to unlock its full value. GeoSpock is the leading platform in the market able to capture, organise and analyse the extreme-scale datasets of smart cities, smart nations, life-scale IoT and connected transportation systems. Where blockchain is the ideal technology to capitalise on that data, GeoSpock becomes the catalyst for unparalleled access to real-world, real-time data analytics at scale. With this investment, we aim to fuel GeoSpock’s continued growth and create new realities for our clients to utilise blockchain technology to its fullest potential.”
Richard Baker, CEO of GeoSpock, echoed Washburn’s enthusiasm, saying: “Our expansion to Singapore and Tokyo last year proved the platform’s ability to perform any-scale data analysis and provide tangible value for our clients and investors. As our technological world continues to grow, so too must our abilities to benefit from the data opportunities it creates. Truly understanding the order and magnitude of our ambition, nChain is an ideal strategic investor. They are the clear leaders in enterprise-grade blockchain solutions, and we hope that our technology will enable them to develop unforeseen, world-scale applications for blockchain.”
GeoSpock has seen rapid growth from its office in Singapore, a nation whose focus on smart urban development and embracing new technology has created fertile ground. Their technology has far-reaching applications across industries, exemplified by their partnership with the Baltic Exchange, in which they pioneered the use of maritime data to monitor emissions. From its headquarters in Cambridge, GeoSpock is set to expand their success globally, and with the proximity to nChain’s London team, the seeds for meaningful collaboration have certainly been sown.
About nChain
nChain is a leading global blockchain technology company and was voted one of the Top 100 most innovative firms in the world in 2022. We are the DNA of Blockchain. We offer software solutions, consulting services and IP licensing for clients in various industries looking to benefit from the security, transparency and scalability of the blockchain. Founded in 2015, nChain employs more than 240 staff, holds over 500 patents and is the developer of Bitcoin SV Node software, Teranode, LiteClient and more.
About GeoSpock
GeoSpock reinvents how big data is analysed. Engineered for conquering the data complexity of the everything connected world, GeoSpock DB is a unique analytics database that is able to dynamically fuse any-scale connected device, smart city, or IoT data to unlock next-generation use cases, whilst also reducing the complexity, cost, and operating latency when compared to competing solutions.
About Cambridge Innovation Capital
Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC) is a venture capital investor focused on intellectual property-rich technology and life science businesses in the Cambridge ecosystem. CIC is committed to building leading businesses from brilliant technologies. It combines a unique relationship with the University of Cambridge, with deep financial and industry links to enable visionaries to build global, category-leading companies.
About Global Brain
Global Brain (GB) is a venture capital firm based in Tokyo, expanding its investment activities in the US, Asia and Europe. Since 2001, GB has invested in 100+ companies selectively through 4 funds including 3 CVC fund, from seed to pre-IPO stage, provided full services and resources and achieved 17 IPOs and 48 M&As. GB invests globally in not only ICT but also deep tech such as Cybersecurity, DL/ML, IoT, Robotics, Blockchain, Fintech, Healthcare, Life Science and other disruptive technologies. GB supports innovative start-ups globally that tackle hard problems.
About NTT DOCOMO
NTT DOCOMO, Japan’s leading mobile operator with over 79 million subscriptions, is one of the world’s foremost contributors to 3G, 4G and 5G mobile network technologies. Beyond core communications services, DOCOMO is challenging new frontiers in collaboration with a growing number of entities (“+d” partners), creating exciting and convenient value-added services that change the way people live and work. Under a medium-term plan toward 2020 and beyond, DOCOMO is pioneering a leading-edge 5G network to facilitate innovative services that will amaze and inspire customers beyond their expectations.