2021 marked a landmark year for crypto adoption, making crypto a multi-trillion-dollar asset class for the first time. This meteoric rise didn’t go unnoticed by fund managers, financial institutions, and family offices. To service this institutional interest in the market, financial service providers have developed institutional capabilities evidenced by Blackrock and Coinbase’s recent partnership that allows insurers, pensions, corporations, asset managers, and banks to transact in crypto with a suite of assorted services. Other institutions are seeking a more bespoke service. Old Street Digital is an institutional crypto-focused asset management firm that is developing a range of actively managed funds and products that are accessible to institutions and professional investors. Drawing on the experience of the founding team’s collective experience and rich tenure in the institutional asset management arena, the newly-launched firm is focused on providing the benefits of institutional-grade asset management capabilities to the new digital currency ecosystem. Old Street gives investors the confidence to add exposure to the digital asset market by handling custody, compliance, and regulatory concerns through embedded partnerships with leading providers.
London TechWatch caught up with Old Street Digital CEO and Cofounder Paul Ridley to learn more about the business, the company’s strategic plans, recent round of funding, and much, much more…
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
The $2.8M seed round was led by Draper Associates, and includes participation from Plassa Capital and prominent venture capital and angel investors across Europe, Asia, and the U.S. as well as senior executives from the U.K. Asset Management industry.
Tell us about your product or service.
The company combines a depth of experience from the “traditional” asset management space with the nascent crypto asset class to create unique investment products for institutional investors seeking exposure to this fast-growing industry.
What inspired the start of Old Street Digital?
Gary Clarke, Nic Basson, and I founded OSD after identifying the need for a high-quality, trusted institutional crypto asset manager that can bring expertise from the traditional financial sector that the world’s largest investors expect.
How is it different?
Old Street Digital is one of the few professional, crypto-only institutional investors.
What market you are targeting and how big is it?
Assets managed for institutional investors exceed $100 trillion, which represents a revenue pool of more than $1 trillion globally.
What’s your business model?
As advisors to crypto funds, we earn a management fee on the client assets we look after.
How are you preparing for a potential recession??
Carefully managing our dry powder enables us to operate and grow for a few years as markets recover.
What was the funding process like?
It was great, spending time with sophisticated investors challenged us intellectually and helped shape our strategy and execution plans before we set out to actually build our products and go-to-market strategy.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
We initially self-funded the business so we had started building while we were pitching. It was stressful at first as we needed to commit to expenses before the round closed, but with every investor commitment, we built momentum.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
A credible team and plan to exploit the enormous potential of a new asset class within an enormous addressable market.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
We expect to have our first product (investment fund) open to clients shortly, with another following before year-end.
What advice can you offer companies in London that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
I would suggest a laser focus on activities that lead to your revenue milestones and KPIs that support top-line growth. Bootstrap where you can, which will make you focus 100% on genuine revenue-generating activities.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
We have a handful of key hires joining the team in the next few months, from there it’s heads-down building and marketing products our clients need.
What is your favourite restaurant in London?
Delamina East.
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