Jamila Gordon, born in Somalia and forced into labor at the age of mere 5, has announced her arrival in the startup sector by raising $2.4 million in public funding through her startup Lumachain. A blockchain startup based in Australia, Lumachain is dedicated to fighting modern slavery associated with the food industry. The public funding was made by Main Sequence Ventures, a $165.6 million venture capital firm backed by the Australian government and the Federal Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. According to a report by local financial news periodical Australian Financial Review, the funding will be geared towards staffing fees and global expansion of the company.
Lumachain makes use of blockchain technology to trace and track the condition of food and its whereabouts in real-time along the supply chain. The Australian Council of Superannuation Investor’s report citing the food sector as the third most likely industry to be a part of modern slavery has apparently created a perfect stage for the company. According to Gordon, the food industry in Australia is largely undigitized, and this makes the system wasteful and inefficient.
Having witnessed the experiences of slavery and poverty firsthand, this would come as a personal achievement for Gordon. She gained experience in implementing supply chains globally when she was serving as a Senior Technology Executive for a major airline service named Qantas. Her expertise in supply chain management and passion together led her to start Lumachain. The startup is also backed by major tech company Microsoft through the “start-up scale-up” initiative.
In Gordon’s own words, “ I always knew I would create the technology where we could connect big companies around the world to buy products and sell products anywhere, knowing those products were ethically sourced and produced, and there is no modern slavery involved.” Gordon’s connection with the corporate world when she was working with Deloitte, IBM, and Qantas would come into play as the company is eyeing for global expansion.
