Singapore-based health data verification platform Riverr said Wednesday it has raised a $1 million seed round to scale and rapidly deploy its trusted verification solution platform across Southeast Asia as the global pandemic amplifies an urgent need to improve how vaccination and medical data is verified.

The seed round was led by KSL Maritime Ventures, the wholly-owned venture capital unit of Kuok (Singapore) Limited dedicated to the incubation and commercial success of maritime technology startups, Riverr said in a statement.

Enterprise Singapore’s SEEDS Capital also participated in the round, as part of a S$50 million ($37.19 million) co-investment scheme for maritime startups supported by Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

The fresh capital from maritime industry leaders will enable Riverr to accelerate its go-to-market roadmap with healthcare providers across Singapore, Philippines, India and Indonesia as it introduces its platform to sectors, like maritime, with a higher frequency of cross border people movements.

“Keeping economies going amid COVID-19, depends on health data verification tools that respond to the complex and industry-specific challenges to do with people movements. Managing the health records of seafarers in the maritime industry – which involves data, medical and efficiency risks – is a very real example of this and the calibre of Riverr’s strategic investors reaffirms our industry fit as we expand into a sector that’s critical to keep the world going,” said Kristina Lynge, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Riverr.

Riverr is a Singapore-based technology startup that has developed a digital interface that simplifies how health data can be verified across multiple stakeholders in the maritime industry. Its online trust management platform solves the security and privacy challenges for exchanging protected health information and automates the way sensitive personal and business data is sourced and verified securely, thereby reducing costs and eliminating fraud.

It is a digital platform of tools launched in 2020 to simplify how health data can be verified across organisations and governments while maintaining the privacy of individuals. Tools on its platform include patient booking, health record and payment gateways, that can be white-labelled and embedded into existing systems. This holistic ecosystem ensures that every touchpoint along a patient’s health and vaccination journey – from medical providers to testing labs and national health organisations – can be instantly verified on request via a mobile app or web interface.

Riverr said that its solution is especially relevant for sectors like maritime that lack secure tools to digitally verify the health information of seafarers on a single ship with multiple nationalities, vaccination and medical records.

Typically, the health records of seafarers are managed and shared via emails between authorising bodies to approve whether they can board or disembark at ports. With Riverr, a seafarer’s trail of medical and vaccination records can be instantly validated by ports authorities and necessary industry stakeholders, without ever needing them to hold or store the data themselves.

The pandemic has made this data especially vulnerable with defence and security company Naval Dome reporting a 400 percent spike in attempted cyberattacks on the global maritime industry since February 2020.

Currently, leading health clinics and labs across Southeast Asia tap on Riverr’s solution with the likes of Acumen Diagnostics, Eurofins Clinical Diagnostics, Healthway Medical Group, Minmed Group and MiRXES relying on its solution to securely manage the end-to-end process of verifying health data and records. Its online trust management platform is able to verify all 10 data standards for health records recognised worldwide and bridges the interoperability between different systems.

“As part of our efforts to catalyse investments in the maritime tech sector, Seeds Capital is pleased to participate in the fundraising round of Riverr. The company has built a strong product in trust verification and has secured validation and clients of its solution within the first year. We are confident that Riverr will grow further with this investment to support its expansion plans,” said Tan Kaixin, General Manager of SEEDS Capital.

Kenneth Lim, Assistant Chief Executive, Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, said: “We are extremely excited that local tech start-up Riverr has succeeded in raising seed funds to expand its solution that addresses data verification and privacy challenges, with the maritime sector being a strategic focus area. Riverr’s fresh funding and expertise will augment their efforts in accelerating digitalisation for the maritime industry and further strengthen Singapore’s position as a global leading Maritime Technology Hub.”

Bernard Liew, Director, KSL Maritime Ventures, said: “We are excited to invest in Riverr and look forward to their continued impact in the maritime and health industries. Their core competency of providing a unique, efficient and highly reliable authentication platform for critical transactions (such as COVID-19 test results) addresses a huge demand in the maritime sector for verification of health and other critical records. Their solution is also highly relevant for all industries where trust verification is important. KMV has an intense focus on fostering a resilient startup ecosystem by providing support and enabling maritime technology startups to yield long-term success. Our partnership will put Riverr in good stead to continue driving new product innovation and bringing other solutions to market.”

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