Valour’s Venture Portfolio Company Skolem Technologies Raises $20 Million Series A Round

• Skolem Technologies Raises $20 Million to Enable Institutional-Grade Access to DeFi
• Investor in Skolem’s Series A round include Galaxy Digital, Point72 Ventures, Jump Crypto, Fenwick and Dragonfly Capital

TORONTO, June 15, 2022 /CNW/ – Valour Inc. (the “Company” or “Valour“) (NEO: DEFI) (GR: RMJR) (OTCQB: DEFTF), a technology company bridging the gap between traditional capital markets and decentralised finance, announced today that Skolem Technologies raised $20 Million in Series A funding. The round was led by Galaxy Digital and included participation from Point72 Ventures, Jump Crypto, Fenwick and West, Morpheus Ventures, and Dragonfly Capital.

Founded in 2020 and led by JP Smith, formerly of Trail of Bits, Skolem is the first full-stack DeFi platform that enables institutions to participate directly in DeFi markets without having to substantially increase technical headcount and portfolio risk. Skolem’s robust infrastructure and unique interface layer provides clients with reliable execution, an easy-to-use web UI and API, and full trade lifecycle support.

Due to the structural benefits of decentralization, DeFi is increasingly attracting institutional interest. According to DeFi Llama, DeFi has a total value locked (TVL) of $111.86 billion with DeFi assets under management increasing 713% over the past 18-month period. Skolem intends to use the proceeds from the fundraise to build out its team, in addition to scaling the platform’s technological capabilities to grow the DeFi market by orders of magnitude.

“Skolem’s business model is a perfect fit for our mission at Valour to expand access to digital assets with a simple and secure method,” said Russell Starr, CEO at Valour.  “As a participant in their early funding rounds we are very excited to see the team at Skolem raise additional funds from top tier firms and execute as the DeFi market continues to evolve and attract institutions with onramps made possible by their teams’ disruptive platform.”

“DeFi markets are constantly evolving, making it difficult for institutions to easily trade, record, and engage in the market in a secure and dependable way. At Skolem, we are firm believers that DeFi will change our world over the next decade, and we are committed to increasing access to this important market by developing a scalable platform that can safely provide an entry point,” said JP Smith, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Skolem. “This fundraise underscores our partners’ confidence in Skolem’s platform and the much-needed reliability it offers institutions to help them and DeFi markets flourish.”

“Skolem is a zero to one solution for institutional access to DeFi markets. The institutional DeFi stack requires security, execution, risk management, accounting, and compliance,” added Will Nuelle, Principal Investments at Galaxy Digital. “The options for institutions today are either roll-your-own tech stack and hire an engineering team or let Skolem do the heavy lifting. We are thrilled to support Skolem as they make DeFi access secure, convenient, and reliable.”

“There is a clear and loud need from institutional investors for a solution like Skolem, which enables secure enterprise-grade access to the DeFi markets,” said Adam Carson, crypto lead at Point72 Ventures. “Skolem is a first mover in the space, and we are excited to back this impressive team of technologists and their efforts to support the growth of institutional DeFi markets.”

“Access to trading in the DeFi space is limited, complicated, and lacks the guardrails necessary for institutions with stringent risk and reporting requirements to get involved,” said Hassab Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly Capital. “As the market continues to evolve, JP, Adam and their talented team created a simple, yet cutting-edge, solution to enable DeFi to reach its full potential.”

Learn more about Valour and Skolem at valour.com and skolem.tech

About Skolem Technologies
Skolem Technologies provides data and trade execution services for decentralized financial markets. Our systems are built on a deep understanding of the underlying smart contracts and a security research mentality. Skolem Execution Technology is available on an invite-only basis.

About Valour Inc.:
Valour Inc. (NEO: DEFI) (GR: RMJR) (OTC: DEFTF) is a technology company bridging the gap between traditional capital markets and decentralized finance. Our mission is to expand investor access to industry-leading decentralized technologies which we believe lie at the heart of the future of finance. On behalf of our shareholders and investors, we identify opportunities and areas of innovation, and build and invest in new technologies and ventures in order to provide trusted, diversified exposure across the decentralized finance ecosystem. For more information or to subscribe to receive company updates and financial information, visit valour.com.

Cautionary note regarding forward-looking information:

This press release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, Skolem, statements with respect to listing of ETPs by Valour; the growth of AUM; expansion of Valour into other geographic areas; the growth and adoption of decentralized finance; the pursuit by Valour and its subsidiaries of business opportunities; and the merits or potential returns of any such opportunities. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “plans”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, or “believes”, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will be taken”, “occur” or “be achieved”. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company, as the case may be, to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but is not limited to acceptance of Valour ETPs by Frankfurt, Euronext and other exchanges; investor demand for DeFi Technologies’ and Valour’s products; the growth and development of Valour and cryptocurrency sector; rules and regulations with respect to Valour and cryptocurrency; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

THE NEO STOCK EXCHANGE DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE

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SOURCE Valour, Inc.

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