The Crédit Agricole group invests in BlockInves https://ift.tt/32q3vtl

PRESS RELEASE

Milan, December 20, 2021 – BlockInvest, the innovative startup that is bringing blockchain technology to the service of institutions, announces the closing of a new investment round, reserved and fully subscribed by Crédit Agricole Italia. 

What BlockInvest does

The BlockInvest solution is a blockchain-based platform designed for financial institutions and market operators. BlockInvest allows digitizing the process of issuing and selling real assets such as real estate, bonds, and/or portfolios of Non-Performing Loan (Secured, Unsecured) thanks to the issuance of sophisticated tokens on the public Blockchain of Ethereum, able to represent the tokenized financial instrument. BlockInvest also enables its clients to broaden their investor base globally in a transparent, liquid environment with an unparalleled level of security. 

Crédit Agricole first investment in Italy on BlockInvest

This initiative represents the first investment by Crédit Agricole in an Italian startup, as well as confirmation of the growing interest by institutional players in blockchain technology and its possible applications in the financial sector. 

For BlockInvest, already resident in Le Village by CA Milano, the innovation hub of the Crédit Agricole Group, it represents instead the first step towards a partnership that goes beyond the simple use of the platform. A step in line with the company’s objective to expand into international markets and to invest in the development of disruptive solutions in the emerging world of decentralized finance. 

Following this investment round, Crédit Agricole Italia becomes the second shareholder of the company RealHouse S.r.l., owner of the brand and of the platform. 

BlockInvest has been assisted by ELLED – Scordino De Bellis as legal advisor, with a team coordinated by the lawyer Daniela de Bellis. 

Lorenzo Rigatti, co-founder and CEO of BlockInvest, states:  

“This operation makes us particularly proud because it is the consolidation of a relationship that began several months ago, but above all the beginning of a new path in a sector that will see exponential growth in the coming years, and in which, thanks to the support of the group, we want to be protagonists in Europe.”

Andrea Riva, Head of Capital Market and Open Innovation at Crédit Agricole Italia, states:

“The investment in BlockInvest represents tangible proof of the commitment that Crédit Agricole has undertaken in recent years in the area of Open Innovation, as well as an additional step within that path of creating a collaborative ecosystem, which sees as its fulcrum the Le Village project. In detail, the collaboration with BlockInvest will allow the Group to have a garrison on technology such as blockchain, which will play a fundamental role in the evolution of economic, monetary and financial systems”. 

Crédit Agricole Italia Profile 

The Crédit Agricole Group, the 10th largest bank in the world with 10.9 million members, is present in 48 countries, including Italy, its second domestic market. Here it operates with all its business lines: from commercial banking to consumer credit, from corporate & investment banking to private banking and asset management, up to the insurance sector and services dedicated to large assets. The collaboration between the commercial network and the business lines guarantees a wide and integrated operation to 5.2 million active customers, through 1,600 points of sale and over 17,500 employees, with growing support to the economy equal to 93 billion euros of financing.  

In addition to the Crédit Agricole Italia Banking Group, the Group consists of Corporate and Investment Banking (CACIB), Specialized Financial Services (Agos, FCA Bank), Leasing and Factoring (Crédit Agricole Leasing and Crédit Agricole Eurofactor), Asset Management and Asset Services (Amundi, CACEIS), Insurance (Crédit Agricole Vita, Crédit Agricole Assicurazioni, Crédit Agricole Creditor Insurance) and Wealth Management (Indosuez Wealth Management in Italy and CA Indosuez Fiduciaria).  

BlockInvest Profile 

A fast-growing fintech startup based in Milan, founded by professionals from the Blockchain, Real Estate, and Finance sectors. Just two years after its foundation, the company has already been the protagonist of the first tokenization experiments in Italy, both in the real estate sector and in the non-performing loans sector. Moreover, recently, the BlockInvest platform has acted as a technology partner in the issuance of some of the first tokenized green bonds in Europe.