Most recently, Source Certain inked a deal with the British government to help determine whether Russian forces were stealing and exporting Ukrainian grain, allegedly seized during its occupation of Ukrainian territory.
The £1.5 million ($2.6 million) project has Source Certain analysing the chemical composition of Ukrainian grain samples, which are made up of trace elements, isotopes, chemicals and molecules identifiable from the underlying geology in which the plants grew.
Big clients
These kinds of programs are common for Source Certain, which has assisted bodies such as the West Australian government and global authorities trying to track the provenance of blood diamonds for years.
Founded in 2016, Source Certain makes most of its unaudited $1.5 million in operating revenue providing forensic and analytics services to customers such as USA Rare Earth, Australian Council of Prawn Fisheries, the Australian Farmed Barramundi Association, and Reid Fruits.
But its TSW Trace technology forms the basis of the company’s new commercialisation strategy and is used to increase transparency in seafood, mining, diamonds, cannabis, textiles and agricultural supply chains at a time when customers and businesses are demanding clarity on ESG merit.
Last year, Source Certain signed a deal with SCS Global to become the go-to technology in the new international standard to combat blood or conflict diamonds.
This provenance technology stems from work done by Dr John Watling, who discovered there were certain geographic markers in naturally occurring products in the late 1970s.
The company helps trace the origins of blood diamonds.
Dr Watling went on to work with the West Australian police to assist in tracking down stolen gold; an extensive problem during the ’80s and ’90s.
Source Certain has $4.5 million cash in the bank, and manages about $6.5 million in liabilities.
For the first half of financial 2022, Source Certain booked a $2.4 million loss thanks to the acquisition of TSW Global, the business that housed the TSW Trace technology founded by Dr Watling, who retains about 8.5 per cent of the company.
Following the injection of fresh capital, Mr Scadding said he planned to expand the team and further develop the forensic laboratories where most of the company’s work was done.
As it stands, Mr Scadding and his family hold about 23 per cent of the company, with fellow-director and investor Anthony Shields holding 9 per cent.
