VAKT Global Ltd., a company specializing in post-trade processing powered by blockchain, has announced that its new trading partner - Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures - has invested $5 million in new shares.
Saudi Aramco joins VAKT's current stockholder portfolio of 12 investors, comprising the world's biggest companies in energy and commodities trading.
Saudi Aramco's investment will help VAKT to further enhance its blockchain technology and expand into new ventures, especially in Asia.
Leveraging blockchain technology and applying it to the complex world of post-trade processing, VAKT has created a strong pitch to become a huge player in the oil market infrastructure.
Sources said Saudi Aramco was not the first energy conglomerate that struck a deal with VAKT. The company had earlier partnered with the North Sea crude oil company where Aramco remained active for a long time.
VAKT is a system that does away with paper-based processing and manual accounting so it could provide a more efficient trade with energy transactions.
The Aramco-VAKT partnership will also see the energy giant become a new user of the VAKT blockchain platform, which is currently live in the North Sea crude oil market.
Formally the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, Saudi Aramco will bring its own North Sea trading volumes, boosting VAKT's already large market share, and is ready for its expansion into other global markets.
According to VAKT chief executive officer Etienne Amic, the North Sea is just "the beginning for the company," adding that they could not ask for a better trade partner ahead of future expansion than Saudi Aramco, "especially when it comes to Aramco's influence and expertise in the Asian region."
Other big players in the oil sector, including California-based Chevron Corporation, French Total S.A., and Indian Reliance Industries Ltd. have previously backed the startup, Reuters reported.
VAKT unveiled its trading platform in December 2018. The year before, when the company was created, the two consortium leaders of the industry -- Shell and BP -- became the first users of the platform.
Later, Chevron, Total and India's Reliance Industries also became its users. Last year, Saudi Aramco invested $6 million in US Blockchain startup Data Gumbo Corporation through its venture affiliate.
Richard James, VAKT chief financial officer, said that it is a proud moment for the company to be able to have Saudi Aramco as one of their stakeholders. "This company has a strong track record of investing in industry innovation," he said.
Saudi Aramco became the most valuable publicly-traded company in the world with a market value of $2 trillion, surpassing tech giant Apple Inc., after raising the world's biggest initial public offering in December 2019. Saudi Aramco's stock settled at $9.13 in Riyadh trading, early Wednesday.
