Houston blockchain technology firm Data Gumbo is establishing a foothold in Saudi Arabia.
The new office in Khobar, in eastern Saudi Arabia, will allow the company to better serve existing customers and develop new business opportunities in the Middle East, according to a March 1 announcement. Data Gumbo recently appointed Mohamed Ibrahim Marzouk as its Saudi Arabia country manager to lead the regional expansion.
Data Gumbo develops a smart contract blockchain network that uses real-time sensor-level and field data to validate transactions for industrial clients. The firm is working with Norwegian energy firm Equinor (NYSE: EQNR), which has rolled out Data Gumbo's smart contract network, GumboNet, across its drilling and well services segment. Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, a venture capital arm of state-owned Saudi Aramco, is a Data Gumbo investor.
"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and broader Middle East present outstanding opportunities for our company," said Andrew Bruce, founder and CEO of Data Gumbo. "We are committed to putting down roots and to the long-term growth of a Data Gumbo workforce in the Kingdom and beyond."
Establishing an office in Saudi Arabia has been on Data Gumbo's radar for some time. The firm primarily has projects in the North Sea and North America, but Data Gumbo has had increasing interest from potential customers in the Middle East, Malaysia and Brazil, Bruce said last year.
Despite challenges the Covid-19 pandemic has created in the oil and gas industry, Data Gumbo has grown to more than 70 employees, up from around 30 at the end of 2020. Data Gumbo also has office locations in London and Stavanger, Norway.
Last summer, Data Gumbo closed a $7.7 million Series B funding round, which included investments from Equinor Ventures, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures and venture capital firm L37. The growth funding helped enable the expansion into Saudi Arabia and expand the company's smart contract network into new verticals. The firm also develops a smart contract network for validating environmental, social and governance data — GumboNet ESG — to provide transparency in tracking emissions, vendor and customer contract validation, and more.
Data Gumbo is headquartered in The Cannon at 1334 Brittmoore Road in west Houston. Data Gumbo was named the Oil and Gas Start Up Company of the Year during the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) Awards Gala last year. The company is also a finalist for the Houston Inno Fire Awards.
