New Street Technologies raises USD 4 million

Blockchain technology enabler New Street Technologies on Wednesday said it has raised USD 4 million (about Rs 29.5 crore) in funding in a follow-on round.

The round saw participation from a group of private investors led by Vittal Kadapakkam in the US, prominent Indian bankers, and existing investors, including Unitus Ventures and Mohit Davar, Chairman of International Association of Money Transfer Network, a statement said.

The company's total fund-raise till date amounts to USD 5.5 million.

With operations in India, the UAE and parts of Asia, New Street now plans to enter the Americas, Europe, and Africa regions, the statement said.

''Blockchain is to 'processing' what the internet is to information. New Street has leveraged blockchain's unique ability to democratise transaction processing and has already demonstrated its transformational impact in the BFSI sector.

''Our investors understand the exponential opportunity that our model has globally, and hence this investment in us,'' New Street Technologies founder and CEO Sajeev Viswanathan said.

The capital raised would provide for accelerated product development and access to the larger global markets, he added.

''New Street's flagship blockchain based middleware -- MiFiX -- is amongst the world's first commercially successful blockchain ecosystems for the BFSI sector.

''A single MiFiX node in a bank can revolutionise processes and foster innovation across products including, trade finance, digital lending, cash management, remittances etc,'' he explained.

Srikrishna Ramamoorthy, Partner at Unitus Ventures, said the opportunity road map is vast in this space.

''We believe that blockchain technology in banking is like the internet boom in the 90s. This technology explosion will transform the functioning of banks, especially with initiatives undertaken by the RBI, now several private and public banks are adopting the benefits of blockchain technology,'' he added.