Sep 30, 2021

Japanese financial group SBI Holdings, Swiss-based digital asset bank Sygnum, and European asset manager Azimut Group have jointly launched a venture capital fund of up to US$75 million based in Singapore, which will invest in startups in the digital asset sector. This new fund, incorporated as a Variable Capital Company, brings together the collective digital assets experience and leadership of the three founding partners to accelerate the growth of promising companies in this sector. With SBI Ven Capital as the primary fund manager, the fund’s investment strategy will primarily focus on Pre-Series A and Series A companies developing blockchain/distributed ledger technology (DLT) infrastructure, decentralised finance (DeFi) solutions and regulatory technology tools. SBI Digital Asset Holdings had previously announced that it will join forces with Swiss’ SIX Digital Exchange to roll out a digital asset exchange based in Singapore set to go live by 2022. So far, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has granted approvals to Australian cryptocurrency exchange Independent Reserve , DBS’ brokerage arm DBS Vickers and QR code payment solution provider FOMO Pay to digital payment token (DPT) services under Singapore’s Payment Services Act. Ryosuke Hayashi Ryosuke Hayashi, CEO and Managing Director of SBI Ven Capital said, “We are excited to launch this latest venture capital focused fund offering with our partners, Sygnum and Azimut. The fund enables us to bring our expertise and networks in the sector to accelerate the growth of promising digital assets companies and to shape the future of financial services.” Gerald Goh Gerald Goh, Co-Founder and CEO Singapore of Sygnum said, “We are witnessing several innovative solutions emerging from digital asset companies, especially in decentralised applications, regulatory technology, digital exchanges, and tokenization. Through this fund, we are excited to bring like-minded investors and entrepreneurs together to collectively bring these solutions to market.”