Saudi-Based Blockchain Startup IR4LAB Raises $1.5M from Wa’ed Ventures
With technology that scans through and verifies professional and technical certificates, IR4LAB’s technology was described as ‘paradigm-changing’ by Wa’ed.
Saudi Arabia-based blockchain startup IR4LAB has raised $1.5 million in an investment round led by Wa’ed Ventures, the entrepreneurial wing of Aramco.
IR4LAB, which was founded in 2017, provides solutions to help companies verify and root out resume, CV, and professional certification fraud. Its DocCerts product has been hailed for its ability to enable professional and technical certification providers to issue digital and instantly verifiable certificates to determine whether job applicants do indeed hold stated and valid training certificates.
Following the closure of the round, Saudi Aramco’s Chief Digital Officer, Abdullah Al-Baiz, stated that “Saudi Aramco is systematically capitalising on digital technology breakthroughs that accelerate business creation, support local content, promote efficiency and bring a more sustainable future.”
Al-Baiz hailed the startup’s blockchain technologies for “giving employers a greater degree of certainty that certification for a job candidate is legitimate, which can accelerate employment decision making.”
Wassim Basrawi, Wa’ed’s Managing Director, agreed and affirmed that the company’s solutions “help simplify and streamline business processes, [and] is the kind of paradigm-changing innovation we support at Wa’ed.”
IR4LAB aims to direct the investments to build its customer base, expand the breadth of its coverage over more professional certification societies, and strengthen its partnership with Aramco’s Digital Transformation Office.
