Singapore – February 28th, 2023 – DigiFT, a decentralized digital asset exchange (DEX) for asset-backed tokens (STO), today announced that it has completed a Pre-Series A funding round, securing USD 10.5 million.
The investment round was led by Shanda Group, a global privately-owned investment group founded by Chinese online entertainment pioneer Tianqiao Chen and family in 1999. Shanda Group’s business is segmented into four business units - Private Equity (Venture Capital) Investments, Public Market Investments, Real Estate, and Natural Resources. Other investors including HashKey Capital, a multi-stage global venture capital firm investing in visionary blockchain founders, Hash Global, a Web3 venture capital firm with offices in Singapore and Shanghai, Xin Enterprise Pte. Ltd., a Singapore investment firm wholly owned by Liang Xinjun, co-founder of Fosun Group, and North Beta Capital, an eco-building capital in the digital technology industry took part in the funding as well.
DigiFT was founded in 2020 by Henry Zhang, formerly Greater China CEO of East West Bank, deputy China CEO of Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank, and is helmed by a leadership team who has extensive experience in financial institutions and fintechs. With a vision to bridge the gap between centralized and decentralized finance, DigiFT is the first and only DEX enrolled in the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) FinTech Regulatory Sandbox. It aims to provide regulated decentralized finance solutions on the Ethereum public blockchain offering, an Automatic Market Making (AMM) mechanism that facilitates secondary trading liquidity for security tokens backed by financial assets such as bonds and equities.
Asset owners can issue blockchain-based security tokens efficiently and cost-effectively. Investors are also able to trade with continuous liquidity via the AMM mechanism and retain control over digital assets in their own wallets.
The new funds will be used to support license applications in Asia, the Middle East and Europe, go-to-market plans, technology development as well as to expand the company’s innovation capabilities.
“We are encouraged by investors’ confidence in our vision to be a regulated DeFi exchange. The industry has been through a tough time in the past year. This fundraise is a testament that this industry has huge potential if the gap between traditional finance and Web3 can be bridged.
It gives us the arsenal to transform the industry and we are excited to see where the journey takes us. As a key international financial hub, Singapore boasts a robust legal framework and government support for tokenization with blockchain technology. We look forward to further working with regulatory bodies to steer our industry in the right direction,” shared Henry Zhang, founder and CEO of DigiFT.
Tianqiao Chen, founder, Chairman and CEO of Shanda Group, said, “DigiFT’s appeal is their leadership team’s ability to understand the gaps within the DeFi industry, and how they effectively combined their extensive backgrounds in traditional financial institutions with a deep knowledge of Web3 financial services. They convinced us that they will not only be market leaders, but the market standard for the DeFi industry.”
Plans for new hires are also in the pipeline with the injection of the fresh funds to support the growth of the exchange. On that aspect, DigiFT will look to bring onboard experienced hires that understand traditional finance as well as Web3. These talents can be based either in Singapore or in regions that DigiFT is looking to expand into.
About DigiFT
DigiFT, founded in 2020, is a decentralized digital asset exchange (DEX) for asset backed tokens (STO). DigiFT is the first and only decentralized digital asset exchange enrolled in the Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”) FinTech Regulatory Sandbox. It aims to provide regulated decentralized finance solutions on the Ethereum public blockchain offering an Automatic Market Making (AMM) mechanism that facilitates secondary trading liquidity for security tokens backed by financial assets.
For more information or media enquiries, please contact:
SPRG
Pooja Shah
Email: [email protected]
Hp: +65 8889 1321
Deborah Dayani Nanayakara
Email: [email protected]
Hp: +65 9758 4071
DigiFT
Evelyn Xiong
Email: [email protected]
DigiFT，位于新加坡的去中心化数字资产交易所，顺利完成由盛大集团领投的1050万美元Pre-A轮融资
新加坡，2023 年 2 月 28 日，星期二 – DigiFT，专注于资产支持通证(STO)的去中心化数字资产交易所 （DEX）今天宣布成功完成 1050 万美元Pre-A 轮融资。
本轮融资由盛大集团领投，其为一家全球性的私人投资控股集团，由中国网络互动娱乐先锋陈天桥及其家人于1999年创立。盛大集团关注四大投资领域，私募股权（风险投资）、公开市场、房地产及自然资源。 其他投资方包括：HashKey Capital，全球最具影响力且规模最大的加密基金之一；Hash Global，一家总部位于上海和新加坡的Web3风险投资基金；Xin Enterprise Pte. Ltd.，由复星集团联合创始人梁信军全资持有的新加坡投资公司； 及北拓资本，一家聚焦、深耕数字科技的产业资本。
DigiFT由张之皓——前华美银行大中华区首席执行官、花旗银行和渣打银行中国区副行长，于2020年创立，其管理团队在传统金融机构和金融科技领域拥有丰富经验。DigiFT的愿景是整合中心化与去中心化金融的优势，是目前第一家，同时也是唯一一家进入新加坡金融管理局（MAS）金融科技监管沙盒的去中心化交易所。DigiFT在以太坊公链上提供符合监管的去中心化金融方案，部署自动做市商（AMM）机制，促进由债券、股权等金融资产作为底层支持的证券型通证的二级市场交易流动性。
资产所有者可以高效且经济地发行基于区块链技术的证券型通证。投资者可通过AMM机制获取持续流动性，并通过自我控制的数字钱包确保对数字资产的所有权。
本次募集的资金将用于支持在亚洲、中东和欧洲的监管牌照申请，市场拓展，技术开发以及提升公司的创新能力。
DigiFT的创始人兼首席执行官张之皓分享道： “所有投资方都对我们成为符合监管的DeFi交易所的目标充满信心。这让我们备受鼓舞。行业在过去一年经历了艰难时期。这次成功融资证明了，如果能整合传统金融和Web3的优势，该行业将爆发巨大的潜力。这次融资给了我们资源来推动行业发展。我们非常期待前方未竟之旅。作为国际金融中心之一，新加坡拥有清晰的法律框架和对使用区块链技术进行通证化的政策支持。我们期待与监管机构深化合作，引领行业往正确的方向发展。”
盛大集团创始人、董事长兼首席执行官陈天桥表示：“DigiFT的强大优势在于其领导团队能充分理解当下DeFi行业的不足，且能有效地将其传统金融机构的深厚背景与对Web3金融服务的独到理解相结合。DigiFT让我们相信，他们不仅将成为市场领先者，并将成为DeFi行业的标杆。”
此轮融资完成后，招聘计划也将进一步推进，以支持后续业务的快速增长。DigiFT将寻求兼具传统金融及Web3经验的人才，部署在新加坡，及其他DigiFT计划扩张的区域。
关于DigiFT：
DigiFT致力于在以太坊公链上提供受监管的去中心化金融解决方案 。我们正在运营首个合规的去中心化数字资产交易所，资产所有者可以在交易所发行基于区块链的证券型代币，而投资者可以通过自动做市商机制进行交易获取持续流动性。DigiFT是一家由知名风投合作伙伴支持的全球性机构。创始团队来自高盛、瑞银、花旗和摩根士丹利等金融机构，并拥有深厚的区块链技术知识，曾成功开发过数字资产交易所和产品。
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