Standard Chartered’s venture capital arm, SC Ventures, has joined forces with Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings to establish a $100 million digital asset investment fund in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The collaboration, as revealed in a press release on November 9, 2023, is set to be a pivotal move in the rapidly evolving landscape of the country’s digital assets sector.
The fund’s primary focus is to strategically invest in digital asset companies across various sectors, including infrastructure, risk management, decentralized finance, tokenization, payments, and the metaverse. The scope of investments will span from seed funding to Series C in a bid to ensure a comprehensive approach to nurturing emerging entities in the sector.
SC Ventures CEO Alex Manson expressed his optimism about the venture and highlighted the UAE’s ongoing emergence as a hub in the fintech and digital asset space.
According to Manson, the investment fund would be “an important vehicle” to explore and capitalize on the opportunities presented by the country’s growing market.
This development follows Standard Chartered’s strategic move in the UAE in May 2023. The bank, at that time, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Dubai International Financial Centre to foster collaboration in the digital asset space, with a specific focus on digital asset custody.
Salmaan Jaffery of DIFC congratulated the partners for shaping the future of finance with their first digital asset joint venture in Dubai. He also emphasized DIFC’s leadership in digital asset regulation and its commitment to providing an environment that nurtures investment and innovation.
Meanwhile, this collaboration builds upon SC Ventures and SBI’s existing partnership, with SBI having previously invested in several of SC Ventures’ portfolio companies. Notably, SBI Holdings was pivotal in Zodia Custody’s Series A funding round in April 2023, which aimed to drive its global expansion plans. In subsequent months, the crypto custody platform successfully launched operations in Japan, Singapore, and, most recently, Hong Kong.
Yoshitaka Kitao, CEO of SBI Holdings, emphasized that the new joint venture solidifies SBI’s relationship with Standard Chartered and will combine both organizations’ capabilities for significant results in the digital asset space.
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