Topl blockchain raises $15 million to help track social impact initiatives
Blockchain ecosystem Topl has raised $15 million in a Series A funding round to help companies track and monetize social impact initiatives, the firm told TechCrunch exclusively.
The increase was led by Mercury, Republic Asia and Cryptology Asset Group. The company raised $5 million in a seed round in 2020, Chris Georgen, founder at Topl, shared with TechCrunch.
Its blockchain has been used by a variety of entities looking to track products from conflict-free diamonds to ethically sourced coffee and fair-trade cocoa.
“There are emerging markets, markets with little trust and markets that have very different players,” Georgen said.
“So if I’m dealing with coffee supply chains, I have individual small farmers and companies as big as Cargill. Or in the carbon credit area, there are big and small projects; companies and individuals are trying to compensate, and they’re very different and nobody really knows what to do do with each other, Georgen noted. “There are new very unreliable markets, and that’s where we think blockchain is suited to come in. We think blockchain technology should be used in new markets.”
Georgen said that over the next 12 months, the fresh capital will go towards three main aspects of Topl’s roadmap, in addition to hiring new talent.
The first is to decentralize the blockchain so that there is community governance. The next two elements will consist of launching new blockchain-powered products: a traceability-as-a-service application, which will be launched next month, and a registry-as-a-service application for, among other things, carbon credits, which will be launched next year.
The company works with clients using blockchain technology for things ranging from sustainability-focused startups launching carbon credits to move-to-earn applications where you can earn carbon credits by biking instead of driving to work, Georgen said. “We also have some Fortune 500 companies moving internal ESG reporting systems onto the Topl blockchain so investors and boards can see how they are achieving ESG milestones.”
“I think we’re still in the early days of blockchain adoption,” Georgen said. “As the technology matures, the sign we’re looking for with blockchain adoption is when it’s quieter and where things are driven by blockchain technology without it being at the center.”
By the end of the year, Topl expects to have around 40 to 50 projects in the chain.
“Through all these downturns, we still see adoption, construction and business projects continue and sometimes increase during these periods,” Georgen said. “From an adoption perspective, we didn’t see any decline in that … We don’t have bull markets and bear markets, we have bull markets and building markets.”
