Securitize, a compliance platform for digitizing securities on the blockchain, has raised $14 million in the latest funding round.
In a press release, Securitize said that the latest fundraise is an extension of its Series A round (in which it raised $12.75 million last November) and brings its total financing to over $30 million.
The investment round received support from three banking giants — Banco Santander through its venture capital arm (Santander InnoVentures), MUFG via its venture capital subsidiary (MUFG Innovation Partners), and Nomura Holdings. Existing Series A investors, Blockchain Capital, SPiCE VC, and SeedRocket4Founders also participated in this latest round.
In addition, Asian investors – KDDI Open Innovation fund, the corporate venture arm of Japanese telecom firm KDDI; 31 Ventures, the innovation arm of Japanese real-estate developers Mitsui Fudosan; Hong Kong-based blockchain venture capital firm Kenetic Capital; and Fenbushi Capital, a Chinese VC firm solely dedicated to blockchain – also took part in the round, demonstrating a growing appetite for digital securities in Asia.
Furthermore, the Tezos Foundation and Algo Capital VC also participated in the round to strategically collaborate with Securitize for digitizing securities on the Tezos and Algorand blockchains.
Securitize said that it plans to use the amount raised to develop its technology platform to modernize the legacy securities industry.
“Bringing on key strategic investors like Santander InnoVentures, MUFG, and Nomura, as well as leading blockchain investors, validates how transformative digital securities are for traditional financial markets. Their investment in Securitize ensures that we can continue to drive adoption and innovation with our execution and industry-leading technology,” said Carlos Domingo, Co-Founder and CEO of Securitize.
Founded in 2017, Securitize is a compliance platform and protocol for issuing and managing digital securities on the blockchain, including dividends, distributions, and share buy-backs. Last month, it registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a transfer agent.
The company claims that its DS Protocol, which compliantly manages secondary trading and corporate actions for digital securities, has the highest adoption rate in the industry at the moment with “11 digital securities currently issued, five trading on public marketplaces, and dozens more in the pipeline.”
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