French Fintech Kriptown Raises €4.2M to Build Blockchain-Based SME Stock Exchange

Kriptown, a French fintech, has raised €4.2 million in Series A funding to launch Europe’s first stock exchange for SMEs, leveraging the European DLT Pilot Regime. This regulatory framework allows financial markets to be created using blockchain technology.

SMEs, which are vital to Europe’s economy, often face limited equity financing options. Kriptown aims to close this gap by providing asset managers and individual investors access to SME shares, supported by a 24/7 secondary market that enhances liquidity. This expansion will increase the number of assets eligible under France’s PEA-PME scheme, which was established in 2014 to diversify SME funding.

Under the DLT Pilot Regime, Kriptown combines the roles of both a Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) and a Central Securities Depository (CSD), ensuring instant, risk-free delivery versus payment. The company has also submitted its application for a DLT TSS (Trading and Settlement Systems) license to the ACPR, the French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority.

BNP Paribas, Bpifrance, and Centilux Family Office led the funding round. Kriptown’s co-founder, Mark Kepeneghian, emphasized that having BNP Paribas and Bpifrance on board bolsters their mission to revolutionize financial infrastructure for SMEs.

This funding follows a €2 million investment earlier this year in Axiology, a blockchain-based securities trading platform.