Blockchain-based wholesale payments firm Fnality announced on Tuesday that it secured £77.7 million ($95.09 million) in its second funding round, supported by financial giants such as Goldman Sachs.
The company, awaiting Bank of England approval to commence operations, aims to streamline settling, collateral management, and payment processes for financial market transactions by bridging the gap between mainstream and digital finance.
Led by Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas, the funding round also saw participation from settlement houses DTCC and Euroclear, along with Nomura and WisdomTree. The raised capital will be utilized to establish a groundbreaking 24/7 global liquidity management network, catering to new digital payment models in both wholesale financial markets and emerging tokenized asset markets.
“Fnality’s application of blockchain technology offers a resilient way for institutions to use central bank funds across a wide set of potential use cases, including instantaneous, cross-border, cross-currency payments, collateral mobility and security transactions,” said Mathew McDermott, Goldman’s global head of digital assets.
In addition to Goldman Sachs and other financial firms, Fnality’s second funding round witnessed continued support from initial backers Banco Santander, BNY Mellon, Barclays, CIBC, Commerzbank, ING, Lloyds Banking Group, Nasdaq Ventures, State Street, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and UBS.
This comes after Fnality’s initial funding round in June 2019, where it raised £55 million.
“The culmination of this latest round brings Fnality’s total capital raised to 132.7 million pounds as it readies for the commencement of initial Sterling Fnality Payment System operations in 2023, subject to regulatory approval,” the company said in a statement.
The Bank of England, in 2021, approved a new type of account at the central bank to accommodate various anticipated payment systems, including those based on blockchain or distributed ledger technology, which forms the foundation of cryptocurrencies. Once operational, Fnality aims to revolutionize global financial transactions through its innovative approach to liquidity management and digital payment models.
