The Venture Codex

Participated · Series C · Sep 2025

Fnality International is building a global settlement network that uses distributed ledger technology (DLT) to connect established wholesale markets with emerging institutional tokenized assets. Its flagship offering, the Sterling Fnality Payment System (launched in the U.K. in December 2023), provides 24/7, central-bank-backed cash rails for real-time delivery-versus-payment of tokenized securities, payment-versus-payment foreign-exchange settlement, and on-demand repo transactions. Fnality’s platform leverages ‘earmarking’ to secure settlement while optimizing liquidity management across participants. The company works closely with central banks and major financial market infrastructures to ensure regulatory compliance and interoperability with innovations such as stablecoins and tokenized deposits. Near-term plans include extending the network to additional major currencies and enhancing liquidity tools to support a broader digital-asset ecosystem. By fusing decentralized finance operational efficiencies with traditional finance capital efficiency, Fnality aims to become a foundational pillar of the next-generation financial market infrastructure.

Participated · Equity · Apr 2021

Futurae Technologies offers a fully managed customer authentication platform aimed at enterprises, particularly banks. The platform emphasizes high usability and ease of integration to reduce help-desk costs, prevent customer drop-off during digital journeys, and combat fraud. Over the past three years more than 100 banks with users across over 50 countries have selected Futurae as their authentication provider. The ETH Zurich spinoff plans continued European expansion, building on early banking customers in Germany, France and Austria, while accelerating broader international growth. Product development includes adding machine-learning capabilities to detect fraud faster and more accurately while keeping solutions user-friendly. The company has a team of 19 and four founders, including Sandra Tobler (CEO), Nikolaos Karapanos (CTO) and Claudio Marforio (COO and head of product), and intends to grow the team using the new funding. It recently secured CHF 5 million from multiple investors to fund these plans. Futurae Technologies, founded by ETH Zurich security researchers, offers a portfolio of authentication products built around its 'Zero‑Touch' two‑factor solution that authenticates users without any interaction using machine‑learning on ambient noise, ultrasound and contextual information. The company also provides 'One‑Touch' methods, transaction signing, IoT authentication and an API for swift integration into web and mobile applications. Futurae was named a Gartner Cool Vendor 2018 in Identity and Access Management. Sandra Tobler serves as CEO. The firm works with major players in identity and access management within the financial and insurance sectors as well as with fast‑growing startups. Futurae has closed a CHF 2M financing round to accelerate market expansion. Futurae Technologies developed a hands-off two-factor user authentication system called “#Sound-Proof” that uses surrounding sounds to verify two devices. The product records ambient audio from two devices (for example a mobile phone and a computer) within three seconds and compares the samples to grant access without any interaction on the phone. Futurae holds a patent for the solution and positions it as a quick, safe and user-friendly alternative to cumbersome two-stage password confirmations. The company says the solution can cut costs by about 60% for companies and is attractive to financial services, e-commerce, e-health and insurance sectors. Futurae already works with financial market leaders and is conducting pilot projects with Swiss banks. After initial focus on the Swiss market, the company plans to expand into Europe and the United States in the coming years; it was awarded CHF 130,000 at the Venture Kick final to support product release and market entry.