B2Broker Group, a Russia-based liquidity and technology provider for the crypto and FX markets, launched a $5m venture fund, B2Broker VC, yesterday to focus on external investments.
The vehicle will mainly invest in companies involved in financial technology, IT development and automation, along with products and services that complement B2Broker’s existing activities, such as marketing services and products for the brokerage market.
B2Broker VC will make investments in the form of both equity funding and convertible debt financing to maximise flexibility. B2Broker Group had already been investing through an internal corporate venture fund since 2017, focusing on developing its own specific projects, and has deployed over $15m to date.
Through its internal fund, the company has provided capital for its own payment system B2BinPay, as well as integrated liquidity provider B2Prime, online banking platform Eqwire and B2BX, a trading platform for digital assets B2BX.
Applicants for funding from B2Broker VC will be subject to a number of evaluations, questions and meetings, and would receive the first tranche of investments between two and six months after agreements are signed.
The new vehicle has already made some investments, in portfolio companies including Coinsbuy, a trading platform developer enabling users to buy cryptocurrency using credit or debit cards – a service growing in demand.
