Blocko Partners With Company Backed By Emirates CEO for Enterprise Blockchain

Blocko, an enterprise blockchain deployer, has partnered with SEED Group to bring the Aergo platform to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to Arabian Business, October 2, 2019. SEED Group is promoted by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed, the CEO of Emirates and uncle of the Prime Minister for the UAE. 

Blocko, Aergo Enter UAE

Over the course of 2019, several radical developments have come to the realm of enterprise blockchains, as more and more companies understand the benefits of deploying a distributed ledger.

Since June 2018, Blocko raised $16.5 million in two rounds of funding. The company is backed by Samsung, as the two decided to develop a blockchain from Samsung’s credit card division.

Aergo is an enterprise blockchain company that deploys IT solutions on the blockchain. The company is jointly developing its platform with Blocko, where the new products are linked to Blocko’s existing infrastructure.

Aergo previously secured a $30 million investment from the Asian venture capital giant, Sequoia Capital. Blocko also provides solutions for industry stalwarts like Hyundai and Cisco.

All of this seems to fall within the purview of the Emirates Blockchain Strategy for 2021. Announced in 2018, the strategy targets the elimination of 400 million paper documents and over $3 billion in transaction costs.

The UAE has profoundly embraced distributed ledger and is making real progress in using technology to empower citizens and reduce inefficiencies.

Enterprise Blockchain Onslaught

Korea alone has seen a rapid increase in blockchain adoption at the corporate level. In July 2019, SK Telecom announced the deployment of its blockchain layer built on the Hyperledger Fabric.

Ethereum and Cardano co-founder, Charles Hoskinson, entered an agreement with the Ethiopian government to build a ton of new product offerings centered on the blockchain.

Last, but not least, J.P. Morgan announced the launch of Quorum, a permissioned fork of the Ethereum ledger, which they are using to create a global consortium of banks transacting over a blockchain.

The sudden increase in interest stems from the “blockchain, not Bitcoin” narrative that many were pushing on 2017 and 2018. Although retail hasn’t fully bought into this yet, enterprises are finding an abundance of use cases and benefits by deploying distributed ledgers.