SIX FinTech Ventures, the CHF 50 million corporate venture fund of Swiss financial infrastructure provider SIX, has invested in two early-stage startup graduates from the Zurich-based F10 incubator and accelerator.
The SIX venture fund was set up as part of a wider restructuring of the business in November last year, as the group faced up to new competitors, technology and increased downward pressure on margins.
The investments in vestr and Shift Cryptosecurity are the fund's first in the startup market.
Vestr operates in the structured investments market, facilitating the creation and life-cycle management of Actively Managed Certificates. Founded by experienced traders and quants, vestr graduated from the F10 accelerator programme in 2017.
Founded in 2015 as a spinoff of the ETH Zurich university, Shift Cryptosecurity builds hardware and software based security solutions for cryptocurrencies and blockchains. The firm's flagship hardware wallet BitBox is targeted at both individuals and businesses.
Douglas Bakkum, CEO & co-founder Shift Cryptosecurity comments: “Not long ago we were a crypto start-up in the SIX-backed accelerator F10, today we welcome SIX Group as an important investor.”