Ostium Labs, the London-based innovator behind the pioneering Ostium Protocol, the world’s first decentralized, non-custodial perpetuals exchange for Real World Assets, has successfully secured €3.3M in a seed funding round.
In a funding round co-led by General Catalyst and LocalGlobe, and featuring participation from SIG, DeFi Alliance, former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan, Vessel Capital, and other notable investors, Ostium Labs has secured essential capital.
The proceeds from this round will play a pivotal role in the imminent launch of the company’s flagship Protocol, a cutting-edge on-chain trading hub designed for Real World Assets (RWAs). This innovative trading hub will empower traders to access price exposure across diverse asset classes that were previously inaccessible on-chain.
The timing of this launch is particularly significant given the evolving landscape of financial markets. Alternative asset classes have been rapidly gaining prominence, driven in no small part by the diminishing effectiveness of traditional diversification strategies due to disruptions caused by inflation and interest rate dynamics.
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Pioneering Asset Diversification for the Future
Ostium Labs is poised to revolutionize the market with a platform meticulously designed to support Real World Assets (RWAs). It will provide traders with exposure and a superior user experience for seamlessly trading RWAs, following the familiar and permissionless trading format embraced by existing DeFi enthusiasts.
The initial seed funding will play a pivotal role in facilitating the mainnet launch of the Ostium Protocol, with a focus on expanding the development team, refining the economic framework, and conducting thorough smart contract audits.
Ostium Labs has outlined its roadmap, with plans for a testnet launch scheduled for Q4 and a mainnet deployment anticipated at the beginning of the new year, following comprehensive audits.
Ostium’s journey began when its founders, Kaledora Kiernan-Linn and Marco Antonio, crossed paths as students at Harvard and later collaborated at Bridgewater Associates. Bonding over their experiences in high-stakes environments that demanded unparalleled performance and excellence, they grew frustrated with the costs, friction, and divided attention required to manage both on- and off-chain trades across various asset classes. This frustration led to their mission of simplifying on-chain diversification, ensuring traders can navigate their preferred assets without limitations.
Investor Trust in Ostium Labs
Ostium Labs and its initial seed funding investors are unwavering in their belief in the company’s capacity to enable alternative asset diversification strategies.
Marco Antonio, co-founder of Ostium, emphasizes, “We are at a pivotal moment in the broader market landscape. Traditional diversification strategies have lost some of their effectiveness, and the appeal of alternative assets is on the rise. We recognize a compelling need for a purpose-built on-chain DEX to meet the diversification requirements of traders. Ostium aims to fill this gap.”
Ash Arora, Partner at LocalGlobe, expresses, “Ostium’s exceptional team and their ambition to become the leading on-chain platform for democratizing tangible asset investments align closely with the foundational principles of Web3.”
“We are excited about Ostium’s potential to provide access to a truly innovative range of on-chain assets and democratize consumer access to asset classes that have been underserved for too long,” Arora adds.
