A ‘blockchain ecosystem’ for academic research has secured $1m in investment to solve the problem of lost and stolen scientific research.
Israel-based MaterialsZone, which allows for the safe storage and trading of scientific research, secured the funding from Sarona Ventures which will help develop its platform on a global scale.
Under the current publishing and academic models, most researchers are reluctant to share their data, out of fear of their findings will get scooped by other researchers.
The MaterialsZone platform creates an open scientific data marketplace, incentivising laboratories and scientists to collaborate in the field of materials science.
It also allows the sharing of failed results data, which it hopes will stop researchers pouring time and money into experiments that have been tried elsewhere.
MaterialsZone utilises blockchain technology to manage data transactions, protecting data from being altered, while keeping ownership (IP) in the hands of its creators, without one central entity controlling the database.
“Thousands of materials labs around the world rely on rigid patent systems and scientific publications that allow labs to share only a small part of their data,” said Dr Assaf Anderson, CEO of MaterialsZone.
“Therefore, around 95% of data goes unpublished due to strains and complexities faced by researchers. Materials science is the most important driving force behind innovation, and unlocking this data in order to accelerate the discovery of new materials is the key to new technologies and solutions.
“We are excited about our recent collaboration with Sarona Ventures, which will further develop the MaterialsZone database and platform that will lead to new solutions and save thousands of experiments worldwide.”
Philippe Bouaziz, founder and chairman of Sarona Ventures, added: “The vision of MaterialsZone combines revolution in materials science, along with blockchain technology, in which we see one of the most promising areas in the coming years.
“Our investment in MaterialsZone is an expression of our policy to foster innovation on the technology forefront, including the use of the most advanced technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI).”