Digital asset startups Funds DLT and HQLAx were selected among 17 others by law firm Allen & Overy Shearman for a seven-month-long programme that will provide mentoring and development opportunities.
In 2017, Fuse was launched to help A&O Shearman advance its tools and operations. This year, 230 applicants from 28 countries applied for the programme. The final 19 contains two startups hailing from Luxembourg. Funds DLT, initiated by the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and Fundsquare and later acquired by Deutsche Börse, is one of them. The company provides fund distribution activities using blockchain, APIs, and cloud technology to automate and mutualise processes for the likes of financial services firm Clearstream.
HQLAx is the other Luxembourg startup that was selected for Fuse. It uses distributed ledger technology (DLT) to enable market participants to execute frictionless, precise, and real-time transfers of ownership of securities. The value it provides to its clients is enhancing their collateral mobility and reducing expensive intraday liquidity needs.
“Our clients want us to understand the underlying technology deeply, to enable us to be at the forefront of those legal changes,” says A&O Shearman partner and head of Fuse, Shruti Ajitsaria.
The London-based law firm, with a Luxembourg office in Kirchberg, has integrated in its operations 12 legal tech tools from companies that have participated in Fuse. This is where the selected startups stand to gain the most from the programme. They will also be mentored by an A&O Shearman partner who specialises in their domain. The project also allows the participants access to Fuse’s innovation space at A&O Shearman’s London offices and a newly launched Fuse space in A&O Shearman’s San Francisco office.
