CA-KRAKEN
11.2.2021 15:32:09 CET | Business Wire | Press release
Kraken Digital Asset Exchange, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, today announced its backing of the newly launched Kraken Ventures, an independent investment fund targeting early stage companies and protocols across the crypto and fintech ecosystem. The fund will invest in the technologies powering the next wave of crypto and fintech innovation and provide entrepreneurs with the financial resources and industry expertise needed to build and scale their business.
Kraken Ventures will focus on areas including fintech, crypto companies & protocols, decentralized finance (DeFi) as well as enabling technologies such as AI, Machine and Deep Learning, Reg Tech, and cybersecurity. Kraken Ventures offers the best of both worlds in being a completely autonomous fund that’s backed by the resources and expertise of Kraken.
Led by a team with extensive experience in the crypto and financial services industry and leveraging its strategic partnership with Kraken, portfolio companies get access to the ideal environment for their teams to collaborate across the Kraken and broader fintech ecosystem. The fintech and crypto ecosystems will continue to be drawn closer together and Kraken Ventures will be investing at the intersection of these two dynamic industries.
Jesse Powell, co-founder and CEO of Kraken said: “As we enter the crypto industry’s next growth phase, Kraken Ventures will support entrepreneurs in making the financial system more open, inclusive, and transparent. With a strong team in place, Kraken Ventures offers the right combination of resources to bring the best ideas to their full potential. We’ve arrived at the point where crypto is starting to show its true potential, transforming the financial services industry and creating truly global, digital economies.”
Kraken Ventures will be led by Brandon Gath, who has 20 years of experience in the financial services and crypto industries. He most recently served as the Head of Corporate Development at Kraken and prior to joining Kraken helped lead CME Ventures, where he was an early investor in numerous unicorn startups across fintech, AI, Deep Learning, Quantum Computing and Crypto. He led early investments in Orbital Insight, Crosslend, Digital Currency Group, Nervana Systems, Crypto Facilities, Privitar, and Fortscale. Brandon has a wealth of professional experience ranging across venture capital, M&A, investing banking, and consulting. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago in Entrepreneurial Finance.
Brandon Gath, General Partner of Kraken Ventures said: “Fintech and specifically crypto technology provides the opportunity to drastically change how businesses and consumers exchange and store value, invest, lend, borrow, and conduct global commerce. We take a long-term view on investing to add value from inception through each growth phase of our portfolio companies’ evolution. We will take a hands-on approach with our portfolio companies to provide guidance, new commercial opportunities and additional capital support. The possibility to leverage Kraken’s experience building a truly global, scalable platform enables us to support our portfolio companies from inception to market leadership. We’ve already identified some of the best opportunities out there and expect to announce our first investments in the near future.”
Brandon will be joined by Kirill Gourov and Akshi Federici . Kirill currently supports strategic investment for Kraken and previously managed blockchain investments for a New York-based multifamily office. Prior to this, he led blockchain strategy efforts at Expand Research, a subsidiary of The Boston Consulting Group. He has been actively involved in the Bitcoin community since early 2013 and has over 7 years of experience in the blockchain industry including investment, strategy development for both public and private chain applications, and business development for blockchain projects. Akshi Federici is a seasoned strategic operator with over 15 years of experience in the financial services and cryptocurrencies industries with The Boston Consulting Group, BlackRock, Conde Nast, ConsenSys, and Kraken.
For more information, please visit www.krakenventures.com
About Kraken
Based in San Francisco, Kraken is the world’s largest global digital asset exchange based on euro volume and liquidity. Kraken’s clients trade more than 50 digital assets and 7 different fiat currencies, including EUR, USD, CAD, GBP, JPY, CHF and AUD. Kraken was founded in 2011 and is the first digital asset exchange to have its market data displayed on the Bloomberg Terminal and one of the first to offer spot trading with margin, regulated derivatives and index services. Kraken is trusted by more than 5 million traders, institutions and authorities around the world.
Kraken is backed by investors including Hummingbird Ventures, Blockchain Capital and Digital Currency Group, among others. For more information about Kraken, please visit www.kraken.com .
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210211005504/en/
Link:
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Megaport Launches Storage, Unifying Its Automated Infrastructure Platform Alongside Compute and Network Offerings4.6.2026 00:47:00 CEST | Press release
Megaport Storage enables enterprises to run data-intensive workloads on dedicated software-defined infrastructure with cloud-like agility and predictable costs. Megaport Limited (ASX: MP1) (“Megaport”), a leading global automated infrastructure platform, today announced the launch of Megaport Storage, expanding its platform to deliver integrated compute, network, and storage services. Megaport Storage integrates high-performance, enterprise cloud storage directly into the Megaport Network and Latitude.sh compute platform, giving enterprises a unified foundation that covers the three key pillars of IT infrastructure: compute, network, and storage. The launch marks a culminating step in Megaport’s evolution, delivering predictable costs, seamless scalability, and direct data access wherever customers operate. “With the launch of Megaport Storage, we’re not just connecting your cloud anymore; we’re providing the foundation for it,” said Michael Reid, CEO of Megaport. “By aligning storage
C.H. Robinson Launches World's First AI Technology That Continually Assesses, Improves and Operates Global Supply Chains3.6.2026 18:00:00 CEST | Press release
The newest innovation for Managed Solutions, the Lean AI Engineer, is the brain of the system As the global leader in Lean AI supply chains, C.H. Robinson has built the first AI technology designed to both operate a shipper’s global supply chain and also continuously assess and improve its performance. Now serving the company’s 4PL Managed Solutions customers, a new Lean AI Engineer works in concert with the Lean AI Planner introduced last year to create one connected system that uniquely enhances a supply chain as it runs. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260520874794/en/ The Lean AI Engineer can assess an entire supply chain in 25 to 30 minutes and determine improvements before performance is impacted – compared to supply chain assessments that typically take up to four weeks and look backward at what has happened instead of what should happen. While the Lean AI Engineer delivers intel, the Lean AI Planner ma
Leading Global Brain Science Conference OHBM 2028 to Be Held in Yokohama3.6.2026 17:00:00 CEST | Press release
Yokohama has won the bid to host the 2028 Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM 2028), one of the world’s premier international conferences in brain science, further elevating the city’s presence as a global hub for international conventions and academic exchange. The meeting will take place at PACIFICO Yokohama from June 18–22 and will mark only the second time the meeting has been held in Japan. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260603787692/en/ YOKOHAMA JAPAN'S FIRST PORT OF CALL OHBM is a leading international academic society in the fields of brain imaging, neuroscience, and neurological-disease research. Its annual meeting attracts around 3,000 researchers, healthcare professionals, and industry representatives from around the world. OHBM 2028 will be organized in collaboration with the Japan Human Brain Mapping Society (JHBM, President: Yoshikazu Ugawa and Tetsuya Matsuda). The
Almarai Launches the 2026 Cycle of the World’s Largest Award for Food Security Research in Dryland Regions3.6.2026 16:31:00 CEST | Press release
The Almarai Prize - the international track of the Almarai Prize for Scientific Creativity - invites leading global research institutions and PhD‑holding scientists to nominate standout research that advances food security in dryland regions. Self‑nominations are not allowed; only PhD‑level nominators may submit, and institutions may nominate up to three projects. The prize totals USD 500,000 (SAR 1,875,000), awarded to one winning research project or institution. The 2026 cycle of the Almarai Prize, international track of the Almarai Prize for Scientific Creativity, has officially opened, calling on leading research institutions, distinguished scientists, and global experts to nominate pioneering research that advances food security in the world’s driest regions. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260603753914/en/ Almarai Launches the 2026 Cycle of the World’s Largest Award for Food Security Research in Dryland
Stabilizing Grids and Cutting Costs in Half: Europe Is Banking on Grid-Relevant Storage Systems3.6.2026 15:50:00 CEST | Press release
The European battery market is scaling up at record speed: According to the latest Solar+ Report from SolarPower Europe, at the end of 2025, the installed storage fleet in the EU had reached a total capacity of 40 gigawatts (GW) and a storage capacity of 77 gigawatt hours (GWh). This is an increase of over 45 percent compared to the previous year. By 2030, the study’s Solar+ scenario forecasts that capacity will quadruple to 171 GW, while storage capacity will increase eightfold to 598 GWh. As growing solar and wind capacities place increasing demands on European grids, storage systems will need to shift electricity over many hours. As a result, the average storage duration will go up from 1.9 to 3.5 hours. This represents a technological leap that underscores the need to establish more grid-relevant storage systems. Taking place in Munich from June 23–25, ees Europe will showcase how the industry is meeting this enormous demand. As Europe’s largest exhibition for batteries and energy
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom