The London Stock Exchange has led a $20 million seed round in blockchain startup Nivaura.
Other investors in the round include Santander InnoVentures, law firms Linklaters and Orrick, Aegon's Transamerica Ventures, MiddleGame Ventures, Digital Currency Group, and Spencer Lake, formerly head of global markets at HSBC.
The three-year old firm is targeting the fragmented and manual processes involved in the issuance and administration of debt, equity and structured products. It has already proven the platform in the administration of an automated cryptocurrency denominated bond issuance supported by Allen & Overy.
Nivaura says the financing will be used to grow its tech team and move into new asset classes and jurisdictions.
Nivaura and the LSE have past ties, having worked together on the issuance of tokenised securities under the Financial Conduct Authority's regulatory sandbox.
Nivaura’s CEO, Avtar Sehra, comments: “Our focus for 2019 is on conducting a series of high profile, large-scale projects with high calibre partners to demonstrate our platform as a valuable solution across the full spectrum of capital markets primary issuance activities. Working with such partners with their wealth of experience will underpin our next phase of growth.”
The London Stock Exchange has identified the merging cryptocurrency markets as an opportunity for expansion, having earlier this year signed its first technology licensing deal with Hong Kong's Atom Asset Exchange.