Libeara, a digital asset infrastructure startup backed by Standard Chartered’s venture arm SC Ventures, has announced raising $14 million in its latest strategic funding round.
The startup said the investment round, which was anchored by crypto market maker GSR, comes as it seeks to expand its tokenisation platform globally.
The round also drew participation from Openspace Capital, South Korea’s Kyobo Life Insurance Group, AlloyX, Kaia Investment Partners, Simsan Ventures, and Monk’s Hill Ventures, per the announcement.
Libeara said it will use the fresh capital to expand its tokenisation infrastructure, which enables financial institutions and asset managers to issue and distribute regulated digital assets.
Founded by former banking executive Aaron Gwak, Libeara has positioned itself as a provider of compliance-focused infrastructure for tokenised real-world assets (RWAs), a segment that has attracted growing interest from both traditional financial institutions and crypto-native firms.
“Bringing in these partners provides us a distinct edge in localising and scaling our infrastructure across diverse markets, making tokenised regulated assets available to more investors globally,” said Aaron Gwak, Founder & CEO of Libeara.
The company said its platform has facilitated the tokenisation of more than $1 billion worth of regulated assets to date, including a tokenised U.S. Treasury fund and what it described as Asia’s first tokenised retail money market fund.
The participation of Kyobo Life Insurance Group, one of South Korea’s largest financial institutions with more than $100 billion in assets under management, highlights increasing interest among traditional financial firms in digital asset infrastructure and tokenised investment products.
“We are exploring the potential for greater convergence between traditional finance and on-chain infrastructure, particularly in markets where such innovation can create meaningful value,” said Chris Shin, director and head of Global Strategic Partnerships at Kyobo Life Insurance.
Libeara was incubated by SC Ventures, the innovation and investment arm of Standard Chartered, and has focused on building regulated digital asset infrastructure aimed at institutional investors rather than retail cryptocurrency trading.
The funding comes as startup fundraising in Southeast Asia rebounded sharply in May as the return of megadeals more than doubled the capital raised, compared with the previous month, although investment activity remained below year-ago levels.
According to proprietary data compiled by DealStreetAsia, privately held companies in the region raised $472.1 million across 31 equity deals in May.
