Cygnetise raises £1m funding to launch UK's corporate blockchain platform

A blockchain-based application to help organisations maintain and distribute authorised signatory lists, Cygnetise, has announced the completion of its £1m seed funding round.

Led by London-based VC, Calibrate Management, the raise sees Cygnetise’s total funding - since incorporation in May 2016 - reach £1.6m, aiming to help the company rapidly grow its sales and business development for national and international markets.

Stephen Pomfret, founder and CEO, said: “We wanted to create a simple application using blockchain to bring operational efficiencies, reduce risk and mitigate the opportunities for fraud from a mandatory paper based process.

“Our vision is that our product, the first UK-based corporate blockchain application, will revolutionise the way companies maintain and distribute authorised signatory lists.”

Since launching the live platform in April 2017, the Square Mile startup has attracted clients from the insurance, fund management and legal sectors. The latest version, released this month, provides a self-service model enabling firms to sign up to the platform directly.

Remy Kesrouani, managing partner at Calibrate Management, added: “We share the view that Cygnetise, using blockchain technology, is instantly relevant for managing authorised signatory lists in banks, insurance companies and wider professional and legal services.

“It is a simple way to modernise a manual paper-based process and we are excited to be investing and will work closely with Cygnetise to accelerate the uptake of this solution.”

Features of Cygnetise’s platform includes: PDFs with auto-update features; real-time editing and maintenance of authorised signatory lists; permissions-based collaborations; data encryption and increased security through access management.