The funding round was led by Main Sequence Ventures, the manager of CSIRO’s Innovation Fund
Lumachain provides a blockchain platform for tracking the origin, location and condition of items in the food supply chain in real-time, ensuring they’re coming from ethically responsible sources
Congratulations to IWEC Past Awardee, Jamila Gordon!
by
“We know the global supply chains are broken,” founder and chief Jamila Gordon tells StartupSmart.
A product will go from a farm, through transportation and to a processing plant, before it’s shipped overseas to a warehouse, and then distributed to a retailer.
“Each one of those organisations has their own systems,” Gordon explains.
Previously, while there was technology to make this tracking possible, it was prohibitively expensive, and only available to organisations with the deepest pockets.
Now, however, blockchain technology means there’s no need to build and maintain large databases. Lumachain is also making use of machine learning and artificial intelligence, as well as smart devices.
At the same time, there is an increasing demand for transparency in supply chains.
“Consumers definitely are demanding that,” Gordon says.
“People want to see products that are safely produced and ethically sourced.”
However, aside from boosting the reputation, there are also benefits for the enterprises.
“Enterprises have got huge wastage if they don’t know where their products are in real-time,” she explains.
“It’s perfect timing — where the technology is available, the businesses are ready to tackle this problem, and consumers and families want to see a product that is ethically produced.”
