London Stock Exchange Group ( LSEG ) has launched its digital markets infrastructure ( DMI ) platform for private funds and facilitated its first transaction.

The DMI platform, which is powered by Microsoft Azure, will deliver blockchain-powered scale and efficiencies for the full asset lifecycle – from issuance, tokenization and distribution to post trade asset settlement and servicing – across multiple asset classes.

LSEG, the company states, “will ensure that this platform is interoperable with current market solutions in distributed ledger technology [DLT] as well as traditional finance, fully utilizing a range of the group’s products and services, including Workspace”. 

The platform, developed in collaboration with Microsoft, is aligned with the company’s goal of being the first global exchange group to support customers across the full funding continuum, alongside other group initiatives, such as the private securities market. Private funds is the first asset class to benefit from the DMI platform, with expansion to additional asset classes planned.

DMI adopts an open and interoperable philosophy. It brings together participants from across the international market to broaden distribution, raise capital, increase liquidity, and service assets within a trusted and regulated environment.

The DMI platform is built on Microsoft Azure, thus adding to its scalability and resilience. Its design accelerates innovation, while maintaining high levels of security. LSEG and Microsoft will continue their collaboration to develop and scale the platform.

As part of the initial offering, private funds admitted to the DMI platform will be discoverable by Workspace’s users as part of their day-to-day workflow, enabling general partners to interact at scale with professional investors on a platform these investors already use, and they in turn will be able to discover, analyze and access new private market investment opportunities that were previously hard to reach. 

MembersCap and Archax have been onboarded as the first clients to the platform, and the first transaction has been facilitated with MembersCap, as the general partner of MCM Fund 1, successfully executing a primary fundraise with Archax acting as the  nominee for a major Web3 foundation. EJF Capital has also been onboarded as an early adopter and a selection of their funds will be available on the platform soon.

“There are many processes in private markets today that can be improved,” says Darko Hajdukovic, LSEG’s head of DMI. “We are committed to significantly improving access to private markets by streamlining workflows, enhancing distribution and enabling liquidity. The onboarding of our first clients and this first transaction demonstrate the appetite for an end-to-end, interoperable, regulated financial markets DLT infrastructure.”