Illuminate Financial, a fintech venture fund for the capital markets industry, has closed its first round of capital raising with the support of Deutsche Börse and Markit.
Established by Mark Beeston, the former head of Icap's post-trade and information division, with the support of Deutsche Bank, Illuminate Financial Management is looking to raise as much as a $50 million to invest in early-stage startups across the capital market industry.
The fund has already taken a stake in collateral management outfit Cloud Margin, and shown an interest in open source company OpenGamma, where Beeston sits on the board.
Lance Uggla, CEO and founder of Markit, says the investment in the IFM Fintech Opportunities Fund will provide the firm with "deep insight into technologies and pioneering business models in our space".
With a clear focus on core capital markets activities such as compliance, regulation and connectivity, the IFM injection fits neatly with Deutsche Börse’s growth strategy to extend its service portfolio, says Andreas Preuss, deputy CEO of the German exchange. “Partnering with Illuminate allows us to engage and leverage early stage opportunities that will influence the changing market landscape.”
Beeston says the fund, which is focused predominantly on Series A and Series seed financing rounds, has established a large pipeline of exciting early stage companies.
“Markit and Deutsche Börse are global fintech leaders whose clients will benefit from the technology firms Illuminate is already backing," he says.
The value of the investments has not been disclosed.