Nasdaq joins €7M funding round in French blockchain outfit Stratumn
Nasdaq has joined a €7M series A funding round in a French startup, Stratumn, which utilises distributed ledger technology and advanced cryptography to streamline and secure the exchange of regulatory reporting data.
The company says enterprises who adopt its Proof of Process technology benefit from better accountability, traceability and integrity of their records, while regulators may audit process data in real-time.
It says it will use the funding to double its 15-strong team and move into the US markets through collaborative projects with stakeholders.
Nasdaq has been conducting experimental projects with Stratumn over the past year. With funding now in place, the US exchange is set to embark on a co-research and development partnership to apply Stratumn’s software at its Market Technology business and its own enterprise technology unit.
Nasdaq head of corporate strategy Jean-Jacques Louis says: “An investment in Stratumn was a natural development for us given the experimentation projects we have successfully executed over the past year. We look forward to furthering our relationship between Stratumn and our technology team by collaborating on developing and applying unique financial technology that will bolster and strengthen the current and next generation products for our customers and ourselves. This approach fits with the mission of Nasdaq and, in particularly, our newly formed Nasdaq Ventures.”
Nasdaq’s investment programme began unofficially in late-2015 with the exchange operator taking stakes in blockchain infrastructure provider Chain.com, machine intelligence company Digital Reasoning and real-time risk analytics firm Hanweck. In April, it formalised the programme through the creation of a dedicated venture investment unit to identify and collaborate on new technologies with fintech companies worldwide.
