Citi Ventures, Citigroup’s first venture capital investing group, and Accel have co-led a $6 million initial capital financing round for xalts, a Hong Kong-based digital asset management firm. This marks Citi Ventures’ first seed investment in a crypto company.
The firm was co-founded by Ashutosh Goel, a former trader at HSBC Holdings, who serves as the chief investment officer, and Supreet Kaur, a former executive at Meta, who is the chief operating officer.
“With xalts, we are building innovative, institutional-grade investment products and solutions that emphasize high compliance and control standards—elements that are crucial for institutional investors,” said Goel. “The next phase of growth in digital assets will hinge on institutional participation in this asset class. We are beginning to see early signs of this trend, with numerous new initiatives emerging from banks and asset managers.”
Luis Valdich, managing director at Citi Ventures, expressed support for xalts, stating, “This is our first investment in a digital asset manager, and we align with its vision of creating innovative products to satisfy the growing demand from institutional investors for more efficient and robust crypto-access investments.” The specific amount invested by Citi Ventures has not been disclosed.
xalts offers various digital asset-related products, including mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, and is working on collaborations with other asset management firms for future product development.
Accel, known for investing in companies like Facebook and Spotify, is also among the investors in this round, alongside notable figures such as Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal and several hedge fund managers.