Carats.io raises $1.6 Million in first financing round

Carats.io, an Israeli blockchain startup in partnership with the Israel Diamond Exchange, has raised $1.6m (£1.1m) in its first funding round led by Net Capital Ventures, an Israeli venture capital fund.

Carats.io is issuing the first digital coin backed by diamonds. The coin, Carat, which is 100% redeemable for diamonds, is currently in presale.

The company reports that it is registering large subscriptions for the token through the company website. The executive team has just completed a road show in Asian capitals – Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea and Japan – for a private sale of the Carat token.

According to CEO Avishai Shoushan, the firm is effectively creating the first-ever viable secondary market for diamond commerce, combining the stability of diamonds with the liquidity of cryptocurrency.

Shoushan said: “We are bringing diamonds – the world’s most precious commodity – to financial markets as a safe, transparent and liquid financial asset.”

International accounting firm Ernst & Young is auditing the diamonds backup ratio. Carats.io uses state-of-the-art big data and blockchain technologies to tokenise the diamonds.