Tencent-backed Everledger collapses amid lack of funding: Report
The Australian blockchain company Everledger has reportedly entered insolvency proceedings after failing to raise new funding from an undisclosed investor.
Everledger, which uses blockchain to track the provenance of diamonds and other goods, failed to make its latest funding round happen, the AFR reported on May 8.
Subsequently, Everledger was quietly placed into voluntary administration as the firm could not pay its debts. All Everledger employees were given layoff notices on March 31, with Vincents Chartered Accountants being appointed as administrators on April 24. The first meeting of creditors was scheduled for May 8.
According to Everledger founder Leanne Kemp, the company’s management was forced to take this decision to protect the interests of shareholders.
“The second tranche of funding due to Everledger did not materialize, and subsequently, we understand that there are external reasons and pressures on this investor, which has meant Everledger was placed in a difficult and unexpected position,” Kemp said.
One of the critically important decisions was an immediate redundancy of employees and to hold the firm in control of administrators while its affairs were finalized, the founder added.
Kemp went on to say that Everledger planned its latest investment around the last external funding round required before profitability. “I would not suggest Everledger was a ‘cash burning’ startup,” she stated, adding:
Everledger did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.
The company’s insolvency proceedings come despite Everledger being backed by major investors, including the Australian government and the Chinese internet giant Tencent.
In 2019, Tencent led Everledger’s Series A round with a $20 million
Read more on cointelegraph.com
