USD30 million Series A Equity Financing led by Global Investors Prosperity7 Ventures and Kenetic
Red Date Technology, the architect behind the world's largest blockchain connectivity network, the Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN), announced that it has completed USD 30 million Series A equity financing.
The round was led by Prosperity7 Ventures (the diversified growth fund of Aramco Ventures), and Hong Kong-based blockchain investment firm Kenetic. Other participants include Bank Pictet from Switzerland, investing on behalf of its clients, and Bangkok Bank, one of Thailand’s largest banks. Existing shareholder Blueprint Forest LP also participated in the round.
According to Aysar Tayeb, Executive Managing Director of Prosperity7 Ventures, "While blockchain applications are at the early days, the importance of the technology and the potential value it can drive is massive. The BSN is a pioneering initiative that can accelerate both the development and adoption of blockchain technology and applications. The BSN will help bring the benefits of blockchain to enable a wide spectrum of business activities, from distributed secure ledgers to complex cross-border contracts. We are thrilled to support Red Date and be a part of the BSN initiative and the positive value it will create."
Commercially launched in April 2020, the BSN is a global network enabling connectivity between public and private blockchains/distributed ledgers. The network significantly reduces the cost and improves flexibility, interoperability and efficiency, making blockchain services accessible to SMEs and individual developers worldwide. The project represents the build-out of critical infrastructure technology that will enable a new paradigm for the global economy – frictionless international trade and collaboration at an unprecedented scale, as well as enormous opportunities for financial inclusion of developing nations.
According to Yifan He, CEO of Red Date Technology, "The Internet's Golden Age was only made possible when the cost of building websites was reduced to near zero. The BSN makes the cost of creating and running applications exceptionally low, with the added benefit of multiple frameworks and interoperability, and larger customer bases, all at the same time."
"The BSN is the foundation of global blockchain adoption and will succeed through an alliance of public and private partnerships and technologies, supported by a world-class engineering team and unprecedented enterprise and sovereign backing. We are proud to support Red Date on their journey to build the next chapter of the Internet," noted Jehan Chu, Founder and Managing Partner of Kenetic.
The BSN International, the governing body of the global network outside China, will be established as a Singapore-based foundation emphasising compliance and transparency. The foundation will be governed by a consortium of major multinational corporations and financial institutions to ensure the global network is operated according to international standards. Separately, the BSN Development Association of China will operate and manage the domestic network onshore in full compliance with local laws and regulations.
As part of its commitment to transparency, the BSN codebase will be fully open sourced within the foundation in the coming months, and open sourced to the public within three years. The Singapore foundation will also act as the gatekeeper for the BSN International, issuing licenses and certificates to portals and public city nodes (PCNs) to connect to the BSN, as well as the management of the roadmap for technical developments.
"The BSN International is a critical pillar of the ecosystem. For BSN to be successful globally, BSN International's governance and development must be open and transparent, which is an area where our international shareholders and partners can provide strong support," Yifan further added.