Agri-tech start-up seeks funds for blockchain platform | afr.com

In start-up circles it is well-known that if you want to attract the interest of investors and you don’t know anything about artificial intelligence, then you better have the word ‘blockchain’ somewhere in your elevator pitch.

Those in the know are certain that the distributed ledger technology that underpins bitcoin, can have myriad other uses because it can provide an indisputable record of transactions.

Australian agri-tech start-up Escavox, co-founded and run by organic mushroom farmer Chris McLoghlin, is the latest to hit the road to raise funds based on the potential for blockchain to redefine supply chains.

The emerging company has brought on Peloton Capital to help it raise $4 million, aimed at getting traction for its blockchain-based technology platform, which is designed to reduce food waste for companies by tracking and planning the way chilled produce is transported around the country.

It would be following in the footsteps of other recent initiatives that have honed in on using blockchain to prove the provenance of goods.

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Australian vitamins group Blackmores and New Zealand dairy group Fonterra have started selling goods to China via a new supply chain network, using blockchain technology designed to stamp out the sale of fake products and ArtChain Global has signed up some of the country’s best independent galleries, art dealers and collectors to use blockchain to prove art provenance and enable trading.

For its part Escavox says it has already signed up a major supermarket chain to a two-year pilot program testing its product in transporting fresh goods and has an agreement in place with Telstra for the exclusive use of its network for the purposes of cold chain tracking.

It also claims to be in advanced discussions with major grower groups and potential partners domestically and internationally to test drive its technology.