General Manager of zengate, Kasun Weerasinghe, Chairman SLTFA Lionel Herath, State Minister for Plantation Industries Lohan Ratwatte, CEO, Co-Founder of zengate Global, Daniel Friedman, Chairman of Sri Lanka Tea Board, Niraj De Mel (Regional Director of Zengate Global) zenGate Global Callum Sheehan at the Launch. Picture by Thushara Fernando
zenGate Global, a block chain technology company building commercial solutions for governments and businesses around the world selected Sri Lanka to launch their pilot project to promote local exports to the globe.
The company’s mission is to bring financial inclusion for micro, small and medium sized businesses through building paradigm shifting solutions for their exports,” said Co-Founder and CEO of zenGate Global, Daniel Friedman. “zenGate Global is incorporated in Ireland, with team members based around the world in Japan, United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, Thailand and now we have appointed a team to Sri Lanka as well. We will be investing close to USD 10 million for this in Sri Lanka.”
He said that one of their first products for the project would be Sri Lankan tea and are looking at small and medium sector companies that do not have much exposure and expertise in exports. “Our flagship product is the Palmyra ComDEX – a paradigm shifting ecosystem and one of the first physically settled commodity exchanges powered by the block chain. Palmyra focuses on the onboarding of commodities that have semi-fungible characteristics and limited access to traditional exchanges and markets. “Our platform will connect businesses and supporting stakeholders across the lifecycle of the supply chain from production to delivery and we hope to account for around 30% of local tea exports in the next two years.” Palmyra ComDEX will then add cinnamon and other agro projects to their export catalogue later.
Friedman was part of the founding team that launched the Cardano blockchain in 2016. He has played a pivotal role in growing Cardano into a $15 billion ecosystem, leading their commercial efforts all over the world. He also currently serves as a strategic advisor to the Ergo Foundation and several other leading blockchain companies.
Prior to his role in the blockchain industry, Dan spent several years working in software and business operations for companies in the technology and manufacturing sector. Chairman of Sri Lanka Tea Factory Owners’ Association (SLTFA), Lionel Herath said that they are keen to work with zenGate Global as they see gaining more revenue since this new process eliminates the middle man. (SS)