Avantis has successfully raised approximately 100 million baht in a Series A funding round, with Jaymart's J Ventures Company Limited (JVC) and Rende Development Company Limited leading the investment. With this significant capital infusion, Avantis aims to revolutionise the property business development ecosystem by introducing a groundbreaking digital asset tokenisation platform called SANGA.
This innovative platform will facilitate the issuance of digital land title deeds, enabling seamless overseas property and real estate trading while offering enhanced investment opportunities to property investors worldwide.
The initial launch of virtual land deals will take place in Japan and the United Kingdom, catering to the preferences of next-generation investors seeking long-term returns on promising investments. SANGA, the decentralised and integrated blockchain-based platform, is positioned as the pioneering solution of its kind, incorporating lifestyle content and investment features.
Mr. Niran Pravithana, the Group CEO at AVA Advisory and Avantis Laboratory, explained that AVA Advisory, a subsidiary of the AVA Group, was established to provide blockchain-based investment advisory services. This subsidiary is a joint venture between Jaymart's J Ventures Company Limited and Rende Development Company Limited. By pooling their resources, the two companies raised around 100 million baht to establish Avantis and develop the SANGA platform. The primary objective of Avantis is to optimise the blockchain-based property business development process by transforming real-world land title deeds into virtual lands or non-fungible token (NFT)-related digital land assets. The focus lies in tokenising or converting overseas properties into digital realities or digital tokens before offering them to interested investors. During the initial stage, the platform will primarily trade residential properties located in Japan and the United Kingdom.
Currently, the global property investment market is experiencing a positive trajectory, particularly in Japan and the United Kingdom. Concurrently, the cryptocurrency market has also gained significant traction. The SANGA platform aims to leverage the advantages of both property investment opportunities and digital cryptocurrencies to revolutionise global property trading.
By developing real-world asset-backed tokens for digital land title deeds, SANGA enhances investor confidence in the tokenised digital reality. The benefits of possessing a digital title deed or virtual NFT land are manifold, including easy access to the global market, enhanced efficiency, streamlined asset tracking, and increased transparency.
Importantly, the prices and returns on investment in real-world asset-backed property tokens are intrinsically tied to the prices of asset classes in the physical world. SANGA does not employ blockchain technology solely to inflate market prices; rather, the objective of real-world asset tokenisation is to benefit the industry by reducing operational costs, simplifying land ownership transfers, enabling digital land as collateral for assets, and facilitating mortgage applications.
By eliminating the need for physical land title deeds during transactions, investors, traders, owners, and buyers can avoid unnecessary expenses. The adoption of real-world asset tokenisation significantly saves costs and time.
The growing momentum of tokenised real estate investing has prompted many countries and territories to introduce new regulatory measures, rules, regulations, and legislation governing digital real estate investments. Hong Kong, for example, has implemented crypto asset regulations to oversee investments in asset-backed tokens, with additional rules on blockchain-based securities anticipated to be introduced by mid-2023.
Numerous countries worldwide have demonstrated that blockchain technology transcends cryptocurrency and plays a pivotal role in developing other blockchain-based technologies and innovations to maximise transactional efficiency across various asset classes in the physical world.
The goal of property purchase and real estate investment is two-fold: to acquire an investment property and to fulfil a chosen lifestyle. Different buyers have distinct purposes for property investment. Some purchase properties for personal residence, while others acquire them as investment properties to capitalise on future value appreciation and returns.
The SANGA platform caters primarily to the preferred lifestyles of individual investors. Its fundamental development concept entails providing investors and buyers with a selection of potential properties and assets in prime locations, handpicked by a professional team of SANGA experts. Moreover, prospective investors and buyers have the right to stay in any residential property within SANGA's property portfolio. For instance, if a buyer purchases a residential unit in Tokyo, Japan, they are entitled to reside in that specific unit.
Should the buyer travel to other provinces or countries, such as Osaka, Hokkaido, or London, where SANGA properties are available, they can inform the SANGA platform to arrange their stay in a preferred residential unit in the desired province or country. Therefore, SANGA not only serves as an investment-focused platform but also functions as a lifestyle product, simplifying life for travellers or individuals living abroad.
The seed fund of approximately 100 million baht will be allocated to several key areas, including the formulation of guidelines and rules for investments in tokenised real-world assets and the development of a digital land title management platform. As the company's focus revolves around managing tokenised digital land and assets in foreign countries, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) company has been established as a holding firm registered in the United Arab Emirates, specifically in Dubai.
This SPV will oversee all digital assets and tokenised land contracts, ensuring they are stored and secured according to world-class standards. Additionally, a business entity in Japan will be created to supervise all residential properties within the portfolio. To enhance security and protection for digital land titles and tokenised assets, the company will employ more professionals dedicated to developing blockchain-based smart contracts. Furthermore, a portion of the 100 million baht seed fund will be utilised for ecosystem and structural development, as well as expanding the management team.
Mr. Thanawat Lertwattanarak, Chief Executive Officer of J Ventures Company Limited (JVC), expressed his belief that the SANGA platform will streamline direct investments in properties located in foreign countries through blockchain-based tokenisation. This commitment aligns with JVC's objective of accelerating the digital transformation within the Jaymart Group.
Moreover, JVC has confidence in the capabilities and professional management of the SANGA executives, who possess expertise in the financial market. They are expected to drive success for the SANGA platform.
Mr. Pidok Sooksawas, Deputy Chief Investment Officer of Rende Development Company Limited, stated that Rende Development is dedicated to digitalising its hospitality business, recognising that digital technology platforms are crucial global megatrends shaping the future of business development. The joint capital investment provides an excellent opportunity for the company to discover new avenues of development.
In terms of Avantis' phased business development, the first phase will focus on property and real estate tokenisation. All real-world assets will undergo tokenisation into digital assets via the SANGA platform, resulting in reduced transaction costs and simplified ownership transfers. This not only offers investors greater convenience in investing in overseas property but also provides lifestyle benefits, allowing them to stay in their purchased residential units while traveling or living abroad.
SANGA anticipates that the valuation of its residential property portfolio will reach 10 billion baht within the first two years of operations, with approximately 70% of the portfolio consisting of tokenised real-world assets in Japan and the remaining 30% in the United Kingdom.
SANGA also plans to expand its property portfolio to other countries in the future. The second phase involves venturing into the digital banking business to complement and optimise the development of the digital asset business. The digital banking operations are expected to commence within the next 1-2 years, with a focus on pivoting all business activities and resources towards the global market.