Blockchain startup Lumachain secures $2.4M to fight modern slavery in food industry

In a recent successful round of fundraising, blockchain startup Lumachain raised $2.4 million to help it in its fight to end food slavery.

The funding round was led by Main Sequence Ventures, a venture capital firm backed by the government of Australia and the federal Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Cointelegraph reports.

According to its official website, Lumachain counts Microsoft and the CSIRO among its partners.

Founded last year, Lumachain leverages blockchain technology to track and trace the origin, location and condition of individual items in a supply chain, in real-time, from farm to fork. It helps in ensuring that the products have been ethically and sustainably sourced.

“The way goods move within the supply chain is still very basic, which means there’s still a lot of waste, inefficiency and risk,” Lumachain founder Jamila Gordon said (as quoted by Business Insider).

“With growing demand for better quality food products and ethical and transparent business processes, plus a rising middle class across Asia, we see tremendous opportunity to improve the productivity, security and safety of what we eat.”

The startup's primary goal is to end modern slavery. Speaking to the Australian Financial Review (AFR), Gordon said:

"Slavery is becoming a major issue in supply chains, both here and overseas. Australia passed the Modern Slavery Act in 2018, and this is part of a global trend, where both enterprises and consumers want certainty that products have been ethically and sustainably sourced," the website reads.

This particular topic is personal to Gordon because she herself was one of the people who fell victim to food slavery. This occurred in Somalia when she was still five years old. She was able to get out of the situation and eventually became a major player in the Australian tech industry, but she never forgot the experience. Now she wants to help end it.

The latest funding will go towards staffing fees as well as supporting the firm's international expansion plans.