SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s (LON: STAN) innovation, fintech investment and ventures arm, has exited its stake in Metaco SA, a Swiss-based tech firm offering critical software infrastructure that enables institutions to issue, secure, manage and trade digital assets.
SC Ventures was “one of the early users of Metaco’s technology and the largest institutional investor in the company.”
SC Ventures’ investment in Metaco aligns “with its vision of bringing emerging technologies to market with safe, compliant and robust infrastructure.”
Adrien Treccani, Founder and CEO of Metaco, said:
“SC Ventures is a great partner who took a leap of faith and believed in our mission-critical custody infrastructure early on. SC Ventures also provided invaluable advice on corporate governance, business strategy, institutional use cases and access to the SC Ventures’ ecosystem. One of our ongoing strategic business partners is Zodia Custody, a venture incubated by SC Ventures, and we remain committed to deliver on their ambitions as they continue to expand across the globe.”
The partnership with Zodia Custody and SC Ventures “helped Metaco refine and continuously innovate its award-winning custody infrastructure offering.”
Having engaged closely with Zodia Custody and SC Ventures on compliance and risk management matters, Metaco’s platform was “developed to meet the stringent requirements of top-tier custodians, banks and financial institutions.”
Alex Manson, Member, SC Ventures, said:
“At SC Ventures, we are committed to building and investing in innovative platforms that meet the requirements of clients at institutional grade. We also want to invest in emerging technologies on the cusp of adoption. This combination allows us to achieve transformational impact on banking and financial services. The exit of our stake in Metaco to Ripple, another portfolio company of ours, is a great milestone on that journey and we are thrilled to be associated with their success.”
Established in 2015, Metaco was “acquired for US$250 million by Ripple, a leading provider of enterprise blockchain and crypto solutions.”
Metaco’s custody solution “complements Ripple’s strengths in payments, liquidity and tokenization, allowing the company to diversify into the fast-growing institutional crypto custody technology market.”
Metaco, which continues “to operate as an independent brand and business unit led by Treccani, will leverage Ripple’s scale, market strength and network to accelerate its growth and deliver superior experience to existing and future clients.”
Julian Sawyer, CEO of Zodia Custody, said:
“We face unprecedented demand from institutional investors for safe and compliant access to cryptocurrencies and digital assets. Our ongoing collaboration with Metaco and the wider SC Ventures ecosystem will ensure Zodia Custody has the right foundation to sustain its innovation track-record and successfully serve this demand, at scale.”