Japan investors back US token player Securitize
Japanese investors are supporting efforts to bring token-based economic infrastructure to Japan with participation in a $14 million round for US-based digital securities technology player Securitize.
Global Brain and KDDI Corporation invested via their joint VC vehicle KDDI Open Innovation Fund alongside MUFG Innovation Partners, and Nomura Holdings. 31 Ventures, a firm set up by Global Brain and Tokyo-listed real estate developer Mitsui Fudosan, also invested.
Additional contributions came from blockchain specialists including Hong Kong’s Kenetic Capital, China’s Fenbushi Capital, Blockchain Capital, Spice VC, Algo Capital, and The Tezos Foundation, as well as SeedRocket4Founders and Santander InnoVentures, a UK-based arm of Spain’s Banco Santander. It brings Securitize’s total funds raised to date to about $30 million.
It follows closely on a partnership between Securitize and the Japan Security Token Association (JSTA) to advance the uptake of digital securities trading in Japan. This effort will leverage JSTA’s local knowledge and regulatory expertise with Securitize’s DS Protocol platform, which facilitates legally compliant secondary token trading and corporate transactions.
Securitize claims DS Protocol has the highest adoption rate in its industry with 11 digital securities currently issued, five trading on public marketplaces, and dozens more in the pipeline. The company says it has tokenized venture funds, equity in operating businesses, revenue streams, and real estate, and that it currently has live tokens representing each of these asset classes.
"Digital securities are increasingly becoming a leading use case for distributed ledger technologies within the financial services industry,” Nobutake Suzuki, CEO of MUFG Innovation Partners, said in a statement. “Securitize has emerged as a leading solutions provider within this rapidly growing space. Through our investment in Securitize, MUIP is seeking to establish a strategic relationship and promote further collaboration in the future."
VC investors are seen as playing a leading role in integrating crypto and token-related technology into the traditional financial sector. Previous efforts in the VC industry to establish a crypto exchange platform in Japan include an approximately $15 million round for Tech Bureau led by Jafco. MUFG Innovation Partners was active in this space as recently as April with an investment in crypto fraud and compliance specialist Chainalysis.
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