On May 8, it was announced that Data Gumbo Corp., which is a blockchain startup based in the United States, had secured $6 million in investment capital from a host of energy-related companies. These companies include Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, which is a venture capital subsidiary of a Saudi Arabian gas and oil company.

Another company that participated in Data Gumbo's Series A equity funding round included Equinor, which is a venture capital subsidiary of a Norweigan energy company. The $6 million investment means that Data Gumbo has now raised more than $9 million in financing in total.

Reportedly, the funds raised in this round of financing will be used for a variety of purposes, such as for adding personnel to the company's sales, marketing and technical divisions as well as for developing the company's blockchain network.

Data Gumbo operates a blockchain-as-a-service platform for the oil and gas industries. It helps eliminate disputes between companies and also enables automated payments. It further reduces reconciliation times between parties.

Daniel Carter, who is a senior investment director for Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, issued a statement in response to the announcement. He said that distributed layer technology can affect efficiencies between companies and those who supply them, creating a win-win situation for everyone.

Energy companies have been very active in implementing blockchain technology as of late. It has recently been used in Russia by Gazprom, which is the country's government-owned gas conglomerate. The platform that they have developed allows all those involved in a specific gas contract to share data relating to the contract. The platform also reportedly improves the security of this data, and it has been hailed by the country's prime minister Dmitry Medvedev.

In March of this year, 7 international gas and oil companies formed a partnership called the Oil & Gas Blockchain Consortium, which includes U.S.-based industry leaders such as Chevron and ExxonMobil. The organization hopes to develop proofs-of-concept that will both explore and utilize the benefits of blockchain technology within the industry. They further hope that the proofs-of-concept will aid in the adoption of blockchain technology across the world.