Some words that should no longer surprise you, because this technology is only growing stronger: in blockchain news, there’s a new player on the block… chain. Doing it, moving on:

Blockchain-for-data company Factom Inc. has just raised $4.2M in a Series A, in a round of eleven investors—plus or minus like, seven angels—led by Tim Draper of Draper Associates. The money is earmarked specifically to build “better, faster systems,” according to Factom CEO and co-founder Peter Kirby.

“We’ve been really blessed to be part of this larger conversation surrounding blockchain,” says Kirby. “There are a lot more problems in moving data around the world, and Factom uses its own version of consensus computing so that all computers in the network agree on what happened when in any system in the world.”

A blockchain company devoted to securing data, as opposed to focusing on financial transactions—for example sensor and camera data from the Department of Homeland Security, which is a client of Factom’s—doesn’t sound as outlandish as it might have a couple of years ago, when the company was just starting, but it’s still pretty out there.

Whereas banks mostly focus on how to use blockchain for financial transactions (because, you know, that’s sort of their job), the technology can also be used across other aspects of business, like big data, which is becoming more and more integral to businesses of all types—but for us, notably fintechs—function.

Factom’s network allows users to find “a needle in a needle stack,” as Kirby puts it, even though the amount of data and information flow is growing each day.

Factom’s network went live last year, the culmination of founder Paul Snow’s idea to take blockchain tech and “point it at data.”

“It was really revolutionary at the time,” says Kirby. “Here at Factom, we build the world into chains of data, which you can then share with someone that you trust.”

So far it has secured about 68 million records, according to the company’s site. The company offers three products: Factom Apollo, which ensures that the data is immutable, Factom Iris, which allows businesses to create “true digital identities,” and Factom Hera, moving back to Greek mythology, which provides security solutions on the blockchain for users.

To learn more about blockchain join us at Bank Innovation Israel in Tel Aviv on Nov. 1-3.Register here.