German retail investment exchange Boerse Stuttgart has launched a new digital division to develop innovative business models for exchange trading and over-the-counter (OTC) trading in fungible products.
The new unit - dubbed Boerse Stuttgart Digital Ventures - will work in tandem with the Exchange's Predictive Data Analytics division, which is being set up by a separate team of programmers and products managers, and will also seek to invest in and partner with promising startups.
Digital Ventures is led by Dr Ulli Spankowski - who played a leading role in launching VentureZphere at Boerse Stuttgart, a startup business platform which currently has 200 companies registered - with Matthias Ick acting as venture partner for digital business models and VC financing.
Based in Stuttgart, the new company will have an international focus, says Spankowski, with particular emphasis on the Nordic regions through the Exchange's relationship with Swedish subsidiary Nordic Growth Market.