The Asian organisation says that its mission is to "democratise" access to private market investment assets, a trend seen around the world.

Asia’s private market exchange ADDX has raised $58 million in a Pre-Series B funding round, highlighting how this corner of alternative investment continues to grow.

ADDX said that several financial institutions have become new shareholders: SET Venture Holding, a subsidiary of the Stock Exchange of Thailand; United Overseas Bank; Hamilton Lane; and Krungsri Finnovate, the corporate venture capital arm of Krungsri (Bank of Ayudhya PCL).

Since the company’s inception in 2017, the latest investment brings total funds raised by ADDX to around $120 million. 

Other investors include Singapore Exchange, Temasek-owned Heliconia Capital, Development Bank of Japan, Japan Investment Corporation – Venture Growth Investments, Tokai Tokyo Financial, Kiatnakin Phatra Financial Group, and Hanwha Asset Management.

The new shareholders will also partner with ADDX on specific projects which will help the exchange expand into new business areas, geographies or market segments, ADDX said.

ADDX is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) as a digital securities exchange. The financial technology company uses blockchain and smart contract technology to tokenize and fractionalise private market opportunities such as pre-IPO equity, private equity, hedge funds, and bonds. Such technology allows ADDX to cut minimum investment sizes from $1 million to $10,000, widening investor access to assets which were once the preserve of the ultra-wealthy or large organisations. To that extent, ADDX is part of a wider trend of firms using technology to make it easier for investors to enter the space.

“ADDX is on a mission to democratise the private markets. The sizeable investment from SET, UOB, Hamilton Lane and Krungsri serves as a ringing endorsement for ADDX’s business model, the team we have assembled and the broader vision we have for transforming the capital markets and the wealth management industry,” Oi-Yee Choo, chief executive of ADDX, said.

“SET is the second stock exchange to join as an investor after SGX, and this is part of a larger global trend over the past two years of exchanges joining forces in a new capital market landscape that emphasises continuity between the public and private markets. The backing of UOB and Krungsri, as well as the private markets investment firm Hamilton Lane, underscores the confidence we have built among important players in the ecosystem.”