Securities finance technology vendor Tru Technologies has raised $3.1 million in Series-A funding from Korean investors.
In 2020, the South Korea-based firm announced the launch of the first electronic securities lending transaction platform for the Korean market.
With the partial lifting of South Korea’s short selling ban in May, over $130 million has been traded through this TruWeb lending platform.
Close to 45 per cent of this activity traded at a lending fee of 4 per cent or higher and can be classified as “hot” or difficult-to-borrow assets, according to the company.
Tru Tech’s CEO Jae Woo Ha, a former securities lending trader at Morgan Stanley, says that this Series-A funding, from seven of South Korea’s largest financial institutions and investors, confirms that these organisations are committed to automation of error-prone lending transactions.
These investors are Hana Financial Investments, Hanwha Securities, KB Investment, Kiwoom Investment, Korea Growth Investment, Shihan Capital and Stonebridge Ventures.
Tru Tech says that it has expanded the number of institutions using its TruWeb platform from six to 25 since the start of 2021.
With this funding in place, the company intends to add additional tools to its securities lending platform, boosting STP rates and pushing trading efficiency to a higher level.
