Capital markets platform iSTOX raises US$5M funding from Tokai Tokyo Financial Holdings, to establish presence in Japan
Japan-based Tokai Tokyo Financial Holdings has joined SGX, Temasek subsidiary Heliconia, and Thai investment bank Phatra in investing US$5 million to the iSTOX platform, the regulated capital markets platform. Tokai Tokyo Financial Holdings made the investment via Singapore subsidiary, Tokai Tokyo Global Investments.
iSTOX offers support for the one-stop issuance, custody, and trading of digitised securities. It draws on the smart contract and distributed ledger technology to streamline the issuance and trading process and seeks to support private capital markets by allowing investors and issuers to connect and transact directly.
In its official statement, iSTOX said that the partnership with the Japanese financial services firm gives iSTOX a strategic gateway to accredited and institutional investors and issuers across Japan through Tokai’s extensive network.
“Japan is a key market for us. Our partnership with Tokai is an important part of our overall goal of establishing the iSTOX platform as a central pillar of the emerging ecosystem for digitised securities,” said Danny Toe, Founder and CEO of ICHX, iSTOX’s parent company.
Been around since 1908, Tokai offers investment and trading services to investors across 149 offices in Japan.
“The world of financial services is approaching a pivotal period of change and the emergence of
transformative technologies like blockchain is among the chief causes of this,” said Tateaki Ishida, President & CEO of Tokai Tokyo Financial Holdings. “We believe that forward-looking providers of financial services must embrace this change if they wish to truly serve their clients in the new century. For this reason, we look forward to our partnership with iSTOX.”
The Tokai partnership follows suit iSTOX and ICHX Tech’s first issuance and secondary market listing on its platform. Now, the company is working towards graduating from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)’s FinTech Regulatory Sandbox and into full operation in Q1 of 2020.
In addition to its partnership with and investment from Tokai Tokyo in Japan, it recently struck a similar deal with Kiatnakin Phatra Financial Group, giving it access to the Thai market.
Based in Singapore, iSTOX’s other key other shareholders include Singapore Exchange (SGX), Asia’s multi-asset market infrastructure and exchange operator and Heliconia, a Temasek Holdings subsidiary focussing on investment in fast-growing companies.