Note from the Publisher: In the fintech world, it's very apparent that this beast is international in nature, although FintekNews remains doggedly determined to feature US innovation first and foremost. That said, there's a heap o' cash going into fintech all over the world and certainly that's no more apparent than in China. Coindesk is reporting today that Chinese firm Juzhen Financials has raised a $23M Series A round from Wanxiang Holdings. Wanxiang is China's largest manufacturer of automotive components, fyi. Interestingly, they also bought Fiskers assets in a bankruptcy auction, and recently announced they are rebranding that hybrid luxury car brand under the Karma corporate name. They also have US headquarters in Chicago.
However, the bigger news revolving around Waxiang is that they've committed up to $30B around a new smart city initiative over the next 7 years, and blockchain will be part of that. This investment in Juzhen is clearly part of that, and said to be the largest investment in a blockchain startup in China to date.
"Juzhen Financials, a startup led by China UnionPay veteran Lilin Sun, has raised $23m (¥153m) to develop clearing and settlement solutions based on distributed ledger technology.
The Series A funding was led by Wanxiang Holdings and included support from its blockchain-focused investment subsidiary Fenbushi Capital. The funding marks the largest investment round raised yet by an Asia-based blockchain startup, CoinDesk data reveals.
As a result, the Shanghai-based startup becomes one of the best positioned blockchain firms to seek to collaborate with banking incumbents on solutions for post-trade, with its potential market including broker-dealers, custodian banks, clearinghouses and exchanges."
Read Full Article at CoinDesk