New Industries, New Opportunities
Both the fintech and blockchain industries have grown in leaps and bounds over the past two years, with several projects establishing a strong foothold on the world stage. It’s becoming more common to receive news of investment received by such projects. Recently, it was revealed that Teddy Sagi, an Israeli businessman famous for being the owner of London’s Camden Market, has substantially invested in Distributed Lab, a Ukrainian start-up. Sagi joins the list of billionaires keen on cashing in on these rising markets.
Teddy Sagi, currently ranked 6th on Forbes’ richest Israeli people, with an estimated net worth of somewhere around $3.6 Billion, is originally from Tel Aviv. Among other projects, he has invested in real estate, advertising, and payment processor ventures. However, Sagi is most famous for the acquisition of the parent company of London’s iconic Camden Market, a transaction that netted over £400 million in March 2014.
Sagi also purchased Alpha, a British brokerage firm which was later rebranded to “Tradetech Group” in August 2017. He is the founder of Playtech, a gambling software developer and distributing firm based in the Isle of Mann. Besides being a major entrepreneur, he is the majority shareholder at payment clearing firm Safecharge.
More on Distributed Lab
Distributed Lab is a Ukraine based crypto and decentralized technology expertise center, headquartered in Kharkiv, Sums’ka Oblast. Headed by CEO Vladimir Dubinin, the company uses blockchain technology to improve users’ trade experiences by representing assets as tokens. It offers its services to companies looking to add liquidity to their merchandising. It has developed its own “enterprise tokenization platforms” for four separate sectors: crowdfunding, remittances, investment funds and real estate. Some of the high profile projects they are working with include a bitcoin wallet, an auction platform, and a gold based cryptocurrency called Bullion (CBX).
Implications of the Investment
Distributed Lab is Sagi’s debut investment into blockchain, and is expected to be a game changer in the start-up sector of this young industry. His entry adds to the long list of millionaire and billionaire investors turning their attention towards blockchain projects, which in turn should result in an increase in the general awareness and acceptability of the technology.
As more attention falls on blockchain globally, and private investors flock like birds to a feeder, we’ve already seen the formation of several investment funds over the last two years, including Blackrock’s cryptocurrency team and Coinbase’s courting of hedge fund money. Indeed, cryptocurrency market and management services are in great demand, with several Swiss Private Banks starting to offer their services. A June 2018 study found that about 61% of cryptocurrency investment funds were created in 2018 alone, with an additional 140 entities formed in 2017.
Receiving the substantial backing of a reputed and well-known investor like Teddy Sagi is considered to be an important and safe option for blockchain start-ups. It is certainly regarded as more advantageous than crowdfunding, which is regarded as an unstable form of capital collection, especially for blockchain companies where regulation framework remains in flux.
