SBI Holdings, in collaboration with Swiss digital asset bank Sygnum and Italian asset manager Azimut, has set up a venture fund to invest in digital asset startups.
According to today’s announcement, the fund will be established in Singapore and will raise $75 million to invest in startups across Europe and Asia.
Priority will be given to Pre-Series A and Series A startups that would offer developments in distributed ledger technology infrastructure, decentralized finance solutions, and regulatory technology tools.
The companies would later help the startups by using the Security Token Offering (STO) to raise money from the market.
CEO and Managing Director of SBI Ven Capital, Ryosuke Hayashi said of the new initiative:
“DLT and digital assets are at the inflection point of mainstream adoption, and they have the potential to reduce inefficiencies and unlock new capabilities across several sectors, such as financial services and supply chain management.”
According to a World Economic Forum (WEF) report, total transactions using distributed ledger technology (DLT) such as blockchain are expected to grow by approximately 10% of global GDP by 2027.
Also as per American research firm Pitchbook, investment in digital assets and DLTs in the first half of 2021 reached $ 17 billion, with investment activities particularly active in Europe and the United States.
Co-Founder and CEO Singapore of Sygnum, Gerald Goh, added:
“We are witnessing several innovative solutions emerging from digital asset companies, especially in decentralised applications, regulatory technology, digital exchanges, and tokenization.
These solutions have the potential to facilitate trusted and secure transmission of information and value, empower businesses to access untapped pools of capital at lower cost, and democratise financial inclusion.”
