Yesterday tokenization firm Securitize announced a $47 million funding round led by BlackRock. Other backers include Hamilton Lane, Parafi Capital and Tradeweb Markets. Securitize has a long standing working relationship with Hamilton Lane. The most newsworthy addition is Tradeweb Markets, one of the big three global players in the trading of bonds and other fixed income securities.
In March BlackRock launched its first digital fund on the Ethereum blockchain, the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), a money market fund that aims to offer a stable $1 value. At the time it mentioned investing in Securitize, which acts as the transfer agent, tokenization platform and placement agent for BUIDL. Joseph Chalom, BlackRock’s Global Head of Strategic Ecosystem Partnerships, joins the Securitize board.
Securitize has been working with alternative asset manager Hamilton Lane for some time. “Hamilton Lane has a deep history with Securitize, having partnered initially in 2022 and since then enabling access to our Senior Credit Opportunities Fund (SCOPE) as well as our Equity Opportunities Fund V,” said Juan Delgado, Hamilton Lane Co-CEO.
“We are committed to making the private markets accessible to a broader set of investors, including through digital first, token-based technology. Securitize continues to be a leader in this space.”
With the latest funding, the cumulative amount raised is around $150 million. Securitize raised $13m in seed funding from crypto firms such as Ripple, Blockchain Capital, and Coinbase. Subsequently, it attracted numerous backers from traditional finance (TradFi). Its $14m Series A included Santander Innoventures, MUFG and Nomura. SBI and Sony Financial Ventures joined an extension. In 2021 it raised a $48 million Series B led by Blockchain Capital and Morgan Stanley Tactical Value Investing. Other investors included IDC Ventures, NTT Data and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.
