iSTOX bags US$5m in funding from Japan's Tokai Tokyo Financial

DIGITAL securities startup iSTOX has garnered US$5 million in funding from the Singapore subsidiary of Japan-based Tokai Tokyo Financial Holdings.

Through Tokai's network, the partnership will also give iSTOX a "strong strategic gateway" to accredited and institutional investors and issuers across Japan, it said on Monday.

Tokai holds consolidated net assets worth US$1.4 billion and US$39 billion worth of client assets under custody, iSTOX said. It currently has 149 offices in Japan, providing investment and trading services to investors.

Danny Toe, founder and chief executive of iSTOX's parent company ICHX said: "Japan is a very key market for us and we're extremely happy to partner a well-respected and established institution like Tokai to bring more choice and opportunity to the Japanese financial ecosystem."

Tateaki Ishida, president and chief executive of Tokai, said that 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.

"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," he said.

iSTOX added that it is in the process of establishing similar links to other key markets across Asia. Recently, the startup struck a similar deal with Kiatnakin Phatra Financial Group to gain access to the Thai market.

The company is also working towards graduating from the Monetary Authority of Singapore's FinTech Regulatory Sandbox and going into full operation in the first quarter of 2020.

It most recently brought on board UBS managing director Choo Oi Yee as its first chief commercial officer, effective January 2020. Ms Choo will be responsible for driving the startup's overall business growth by building its network of investors and issuers.

Backed by the Singapore Exchange and Temasek's Heliconia Capital, iSTOX is developing a regulated platform for the issuance, settlement, custody and secondary trading of digitised securities. It is designed and operated by blockchain-based infrastructure company ICHX Tech.