Bank of Ayudhya, the Thailand-based financial services firm also known as Krungsri, has committed an undisclosed amount of capital to a venture capital fund being raised by financial services provider SBI Holdings.
SBI AI and Blockchain Fund is overseen by SBI subsidiary SBI Investment and is targeting a ¥50bn ($453m) final close to back blockchain and artificial intelligence technology developers. Krungsri contributed to the fund through its Krungsri Finnovate unit.
Sam Tanskul (pictured), managing director of Krungsri Finnovate, said: “The fund fits in perfectly with global financial trends as well as Krungsri’s direction toward leveraging AI and blockchain technologies.
“Therefore, Krungsri Finnovate sees this investment as great execution of our digital banking and innovation strategy.”
SBI Holdings itself was spun out of Japan-based telecommunications group Softbank and has made more than 100 VC investments.
– Photo courtesy of LinkedIn.