By Staff Reporter
India’s Reliance Industries, controlled by the country’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, has acquired a 5.56% equity stake in a UK-based blockchain technology startup Vakt Holdings Ltd. (VHL) for $5mn, according to a regulatory filing cited by Press Trust of India.
This is the first such investment by the Indian conglomerate in the distributed ledger technology.
According to the filing, the VHL is a closely held startup entity which is set to run its energy-focused blockchain startup early next year.
VHL, consortium of leading global energy firms, commodity traders and banks, aims to digitise the global commodities trading industry, creating a secure, trusted ecosystem, powered by blockchain.
“The strategic investment accelerates Reliance’s digital journey, through active participation in an emerging and evolving, yet promising, blockchain enabled technology solution for energy markets,” PTI quoted the company as saying.
Indian media previously reported that Reliance Group was considering issuing a cryptocurrency for its Jio mobile network known as JioCoin, though the company later denied it (see here.)
