(Kitco News) - Ownera, a startup that is building a trading network designed to connect the tokenized asset networks of the traditional finance world, has announced the successful completion of a $20 million Series A funding round. Backers of the new project include JPMorgan and the private asset management firm LRC Group, according to the announcement.
Ownera was originally founded in 2019 with the goal of creating a “unified inter-trading pipeline for digital securities” that connects the “siloed tokenization platforms and trading interfaces” that currently populate the ecosystem.
The platform being built by Ownera is based on the open-source FINP2P protocol, and will be
able to easily connect with “any type of securities tokenization engine on any public or private blockchain, or even on traditional ledgers,” the company said.
This essentially means that the new system is designed to connect tokenized platforms and trading interfaces launched by traditional finance companies.
“Dozens of platforms are being deployed by financial institutions across the market, and our job is to be the neutral layer, seamlessly interconnecting them into one global distribution and liquidity network, using open-source network specifications,” said Ownera co-founder and CEO Ami Ben-David in the press release.
Financial institutions and other entities that use the service will be able to access a unified digital securities wallet, allowing them to invest, trade, lend and borrow against a connected set of tokenized assets.
The main goal of the new platform is to foster interconnectivity and interoperability within the growing digital asset ecosystem as a way to help support its growth and expansion into the future as blockchain technology gains wider adoption.
“Interconnectivity is key to maintaining a liquid marketplace for tokenized assets. Ownera has developed a solution with the potential to connect multiple platforms to start building towards that liquid marketplace”, said Scott Lucas, Head of Markets DLT, J.P. Morgan.
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LRC Group cited the promising applications of blockchain technology in the real estate sector and its ability to simplify the investing process as one of the reasons for supporting this venture by Ownera.
“LRC has chosen Ownera as a solution to distribute tokenized Real Estate assets to qualified investors using the open-source FinP2P protocol, adopted by global financial institutions. This solution has the potential to allow qualified investors access to single assets, portfolios and real estate-based structures in tokenized form, optimizing asset allocation and removing unnecessary friction”, said Nadav Zohar, Chairman, LRC Group.
Both JPMorga’s Scott Lucas and LRC Group Chairman Nadav Zohar will be joining Ownera’s board of directors as part of the deal. The funds from the raise will be used to accelerate the deployment of the network.
