U.S.: Dept. of Homeland Security Funds Blockchain Startups to Modernize Operations

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s research and development division, the Science & Technology (S&T) Directorate has funded five blockchain startups to advance their operations on October 09, 2020.

The DHS gave a total of $817,712 to five blockchain project. This fund will be used to redesign the government’s anti-forgery prevention services. 

The 5 Blockchain Startups Received a Total Of $817,712

In recent years, the Science & Technology (S&T) Directorate has given funds to various companies working on new technology and the companies that work on distributed ledger technology. In fact, the DHS had awarded a whopping $1.3 million to 13 small businesses in order to boost new cybersecurity development back in 2016. They also created a Bitcoin deanonymization tool that same year.

The five blockchain startups are as follows:

• Mesur.IO is one of the startups that has received $193,612. The startup will work to recognize and trace toxins, pathogens, and other things across the supply chain. 
• The next startup is SecureKey Technologies. It has received $193,000 to create a Social Security Number digital alternative. This will give holders full control over their identifiers and share them securely with trusted parties only.
• Mavennet Systems has received $86,100. The firm will try to digitally trace natural gas shipments between the U.S. and Canada.
• Spherity GmbH has received $145,000 to generate a “digital twin” account of e-commerce packages. The aim is to share important data among contractors without jeopardizing privacy.
• MATTR LIMITED has received $200,000 to develop a digitally distributed fundamental worker license for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The startup Mattr Limited received the highest fund, while Mavennet received the smallest at $86,100. 

The Startups Will Work On Various Technologies

SVIP is one of S&T’s programs and tools to support and finance reform and operate with private area allies to promote homeland security solutions. Organizations competing in SVIP are qualified for up to $800,000 of non-dilutive finance over four conditions to grow and readjust marketing technologies for homeland security use cases. 

Overall, all the 5 startups will work on various technologies such as building digital Social Security Number alternatives, designing e-commerce tracking systems, and much more. According to the official announcement, the Phase 1 grant was given under S&T’s Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP) of its Preventing Forgery & Counterfeiting of Certificates and Licenses solicitation. This program was a standards-based blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) solution to meet further requirements over DHS projects.