BonEvalue Pte Ltd (BondbloX), a Singapore-based fintech startup that provides easy access to bonds for investors, has secured $6 million in a Series B round.
The funding round was backed by Beacon Venture Capital, the corporate venture arm of Thailand’s Kasikornbank. Existing shareholders MassMutual Ventures and Citigroup also participated in the round.
Other investors include existing shareholders Potato Productions, a company helmed by entrepreneur Lee Han Shih, and Octava, a Singapore-based family office.
BondbloX, which recently launched its innovative BondbloX Bond Exchange (BBX) in Singapore, India, and Mexico, is the world’s first fractional bond exchange.
The platform, regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, is revolutionizing the bond market by allowing investments in smaller denominations using distributed ledger technology.
This approach makes bond investment more accessible, reducing the minimum investment from the standard $200,000 to just $1,000.
The Series B funding follows a previous $6 million Series A round in 2021 and will finance BondbloX’s expansion, including its recent launch in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), India.
The additional capital will also support the scaling of BBX and its global outreach.
Dr. Rahul Banerjee, Co-Founder and CEO of BondbloX, expressed his gratitude to Beacon VC and other shareholders for their support. He emphasized BondbloX’s mission to democratize the bond market, providing individual investors the same market access as institutional firms.
Thanapong Na Ranong, Managing Director of Beacon VC, praised BondbloX’s innovative approach to bond investing and its potential to digitize and transform the asset class.
Beacon VC, known for its investments in fintech, consumer internet, and enterprise technology startups, views BondbloX as a game-changer in the bond market.
Henry Salmon, Head of Investments, Securities Services at Citi, highlighted the importance of digitization in the financial industry and expressed Citi’s continued support for BondbloX. He lauded BondbloX’s embrace of new technology and its unique value proposition in the bond market.
The recent partnership with Citi as the first digital custodian participant of BBX for the institutional market further cements BondbloX’s position in the industry. This collaboration enables Citi’s clients meeting specific criteria to engage in bond trading through BBX almost immediately.