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
Azul Addresses the Java Runtime Security Blind Spot Autonomous AI Can Now Exploit17.6.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release
Launches free JVM vulnerability risk assessment to give enterprises estate visibility before AI threat actors find the gaps Azul, the trusted leader in enterprise Java for today’s AI and cloud-first world, today launched a free JVM vulnerability risk assessment to address the blind spot that autonomous AI exploitation tools are increasingly able to find. With mean time to exploit (MTTE) collapsing from months to days or hours, the unmanaged Java estate has become an urgent enterprise security vulnerability. Azul’s assessment gives DevOps and SecOps teams complete visibility into the hidden risks embedded in the runtime of their Java estate before threat actors get there first, and is designed to complement the broader security, licensing and compliance solutions and services delivered by Azul’s trusted partners. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260617352753/en/ Azul's JVM Vulnerability Risk Assessment dashboard
Fortegra Strengthens Actuarial Leadership with Appointment of Anthony Katz as SVP, Reserving17.6.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release
The Fortegra Group, Inc., a global specialty insurer, today announced the appointment of Anthony Katz as Senior Vice President, Reserving. Mr. Katz will lead Fortegra’s team of professional actuaries, with responsibility for reserving, credit insurance, statistical reporting, and key initiatives including IFRS 17. “Anthony brings more than 30 years of actuarial expertise and a genuine commitment to building the capabilities our distribution partners depend on,” said Rick Kahlbaugh, Chief Executive Officer at Fortegra. “His background across reserving, actuarial transformation, and international markets will be instrumental as we continue to support our distribution partners.” A credentialed actuary holding FCAS, FSA, and MAAA designations, Mr. Katz brings more than 30 years of experience across reserving, pricing, and actuarial transformation. He has held senior leadership roles at ToaRe, Everest Re, Arch Insurance, Ernst & Young, and ACE, and most recently served as an independent con
Hitachi Expands Its Work With OpenAI to Accelerate AI-Driven Modernization and Cybersecurity17.6.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release
Hitachi and OpenAI’s Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) will begin developing AI solutions for legacy system modernization, starting with financial institutions, aiming to expand across a wide range of industries. Through OpenAI’s “Trusted Access for Cyber,” Hitachi will strengthen its internal cybersecurity in practice and leverage the insights gained from this initiative to enhance its cybersecurity capabilities. Through this work, Hitachi will enhance its FDE capabilities in modernization and cybersecurity and further advance HMAX. Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501, "Hitachi") today announced that it will expand its work with OpenAI*1 to accelerate AI-driven modernization and cybersecurity. The work combines OpenAI’s frontier AI technology with Hitachi’s domain expertise and know-how in supporting mission-critical systems and social infrastructure to accelerate AI transformation (AX) for customers and society. Working together, the two companies’ FDE teams will leverage OpenAI’s AI agent “Codex”
Hologic’s New Sustainability Report Marks 40 Years of Impact17.6.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release
Report outlines actions helping to reduce environmental impact, advance health equity and engage a purpose-driven workforce Hologic, Inc., a global leader in women’s health, today released its 2025 Sustainability Report. The new report coincides with Hologic’s 40th anniversary and underscores how the company’s longstanding purpose — to enable healthier lives for women everywhere, every day — continues to drive progress for patients, communities and the planet. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260617160174/en/ Hologic 2025 Sustainability Report “We have always firmly believed that our success as a company is fundamentally tied to our ability and commitment to help women worldwide live healthier lives,” said Sharon Vidal, Chief Sustainability Officer at Hologic. “Together with our customers and partners, we’re taking measurable steps to increase global access to innovative medical technologies while pursuing a mo
Laprophan Completes the Acquisition of Rivopharm, Accelerating Its International Expansion Strategy17.6.2026 14:39:00 CEST | Press release
Laprophan Group, the pioneer and one of Morocco's leading pharmaceutical groups, today announced the successful completion of the acquisition of a controlling stake in Rivopharm, a Switzerland-based pharmaceutical company specialized in specialty medicines, dossier development, complex formulations and value-added pharmaceutical solutions, and operating its own industrial manufacturing site. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Rivopharm generates annual revenue of approximately US$100 million. The acquisition represents a transformational milestone in Laprophan's development and marks the Group's first acquisition in Europe. The transaction significantly strengthens Laprophan's European footprint and accelerates its ambition to build a differentiated international pharmaceutical platform spanning Europe, Africa, the Middle East and selected global markets. The acquisition was carried out through Europhan, Laprophan's Luxembourg-based European platform, reinforcin
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