Dublin-based start-up Aid:Tech revolutionises how governments, enterprises and NGOs deliver aid to refugee camps.

Enterprise Ireland and Singapore-based SGInnovate have collaborated on an investment into Dublin-based blockchain company Aid:Tech.

In what is the first collaboration between the two investment players, Aid:Tech is understood to have secured around €1m in investment.

‘Aid:Tech is using blockchain technology to enable new levels of transparency, accountability and efficiency to the vital work of getting humanitarian aid to those who need it the most’

– STEVE LEONARD

In addition to Enterprise Ireland and SGInnovate, Blue Parasol Investments and Tin Fu Fund are also investing in Aid:Tech.

“Today not only marks a landmark occasion for Aid:Tech but also for the wider blockchain industry as a whole,” said Joseph Thompson, CEO and co-founder of Aid:Tech.

“As investments from State-backed agencies both at home and abroad signal further support of this promising technology, it is extremely encouraging to see these highly regarded institutions identifying blockchain as an active area of innovation while also embracing the technology for future transformative projects.”

Can technology break the chains that bind?

Founded in 2014, Aid:Tech was the first company in the world to deliver international aid using blockchain technology.

In a groundbreaking project in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, the company utilised its platform to transparently deliver aid to Syrian refugees.

Aid:Tech’s platform enables aid, welfare, remittances, donations and healthcare to be digitised and delivered through blockchain technology in a completely transparent manner, helping governments and corporates to tackle some of the most entrenched issues in their fields.

“By harnessing blockchain technology in the humanitarian sector and addressing obstacles in global development, including legal identity and social and financial inclusion, Aid:Tech reflects the level of world-class blockchain solutions which are emerging from Ireland,” said Eoin Fitzgerald, senior development adviser for fintech at Enterprise Ireland.

“Our investment not only marks a State-backed effort to lead on blockchain development across Ireland, but also showcases the faith we have in Aid:Tech’s ambitious, innovative project.”

SGInnovate, a Government-owned firm nurturing deep-tech start-ups in Singapore, is enabling ambitious and capable individuals and teams to imagine, start, build and scale globally relevant technologies.

“At SGInnovate, we invest in people who are building early-stage technology companies that aim to solve important problems,” said Steve Leonard, founder and CEO of SGInnovate.

“Aid:Tech is using blockchain technology to enable new levels of transparency, accountability and efficiency to the vital work of getting humanitarian aid to those who need it the most. Aid:Tech represents a perfect combination of an exciting technology being applied to an important human need.”

Syrian refugees in Turkey. Image: Orlok/Shutterstock