Singapore-based Fintech BondEvalue Pte. Ltd. (BondbloX) has added new investor Beacon Venture Capital, the corporate venture arm of Thailand’s Kasikornbank, to its cap table as part of a $6 million Series B round.
Beacon Venture Capital joins existing shareholders MassMutual Ventures and Citigroup who also participated in the round, BondbloX said in a statement on Thursday.
Other investors include existing shareholders Potato Productions, a company helmed by entrepreneur Lee Han Shih, and Octava, a Singapore-based family office.
This additional funding will allow the company to scale BondbloX Bond Exchange (BBX), its digital exchange for trading fractional and full-size bonds, as well as grow its international expansion to Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) in India, which recently went live.
Founded in 2016, BondbloX has a team of debt capital market bankers and technologists, spread across Singapore, India and Mexico, to provide easy access to bonds for all investors.
The BondbloX Bond Exchange (BBX) is the world’s first fractional bond exchange, regulated as a Recognized Market Operator by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Powered by distributed ledger technology, BondbloX enables investors to buy and sell bonds in denominations of $1,000 instead of the usual $200,000, and through a public exchange where prices are highly transparent.
It also has future plans to list United States Bonds (Treasuries as well as Corporate Bonds) on the platform.
This announcement follows the announcement made last month that Citi is the first digital custodian participant of BBX for the institutional market.
The partnership will allow Citi’s clients that meet certain criteria to become BBX participants and begin trading bonds (both fractionalized and full-sized) almost immediately.
“We are immensely honoured to welcome Beacon VC to our Series B round, as well as other new and existing shareholders including Citi and MassMutual Ventures,” said Dr. Rahul Banerjee, BondbloX Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer.
“We look forward to working together with Beacon VC and other investors to redefine Bond investing” he added.
In joining the recent round Thanapong Na Ranong, Managing Director of Beacon VC, said BondbloX is truly innovating Bond investing and disrupting an asset class which has lagged in digitization.
“The use of distributed ledger technology coupled with traditional financial custodians excites us and has great potential to re-shape the bond market for all,” he added.
Beacon VC is a wholly-owned corporate venture capital fund of Kasikornbank PLC, a commercial bank in Thailand.
Beacon VC focuses on strategic investments in early to growth-stage technology startups covering financial technology (fintech), consumer internet, and enterprise technology.
It has also recently launched an impact investment mandate, to invest in digital technologies which create a positive impact on the environment and society.
Henry Salmon, Head of Investments, Securities Services, Citi, said the digitization of markets, assets and processes is an accelerating industry trend and a key investment theme for Citi.
“We are delighted to continue our investment in BondbloX. I believe their embrace of new technology and the innovation in the bond market has delivered a unique value proposition,” he added.
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