modum.io: Funding a Blockchain-Based Start-Up's Supply Chain Solution (Teaching Case)

At the end of June 2017, the founder of modum.io AG, Marc D., was preparing for an important meeting that would take place the next day with a major investor when he received an email. The goal of the meeting was to negotiate the final terms of a commitment. However, the email from the investor indicated that the negotiations related to modum.io would not make it onto the agenda. After months of promising discussions, the entrepreneur was disappointed by this unexpected decision. With a limited cash flow, the founders faced two choices: (1) provide a cash bridge until the negotiations could resume or (2) come up with an alternative plan.

Modum.io was focused on one core business idea: streamlining supply chain processes by combining innovative technologies and proprietary hardware to provide an efficient, reliable, and secure shipment monitoring solution. More specifically, modum.io’s first use-case was aimed at monitoring temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical products in the supply chain. Their sensor devices are connected to the Internet of Things (IoT), and the collected data is stored on the blockchain to ensure integrity and authenticity.