Deutsche Börse and Markit Back $50m Fintech Fund

German exchange group Deutsche Börse and market data firm Markit have touted a new financial technology fund that seeks to invest in early-stage fintech companies.

The fund, named Illuminate Financial Management, is based in London and was created by venture capitalist Mark Beeston. The fund just completed its first found of capital raising, and although the exact figure has yet to be released, Beeston said the amount raised is a significant part of the original $50 million target.

The fund represents the latest in a long trend of financial technology investments. Since coming to prominence over the past few years, Markit has made several acquisitions in the market data business.

Very recently Markit purchased regulatory reporting company CoreOne while also extending its reach into the trading business. At the same time, Deutsche Börse has used its market position to make several acquisitions as well. Earlier in the year the firm acquired trading platform 360T for €725 million. It also set up a program to help fintech companies purpose ideas and receiving funding and connections.

Illuminate plans on reaching its $50 million fund goal by early next year. The firm has received a significant amount of attention in London as investors look to enter the lucrative financial technology sector.

On par with Markit, Illuminate plans to focus on fintech startups in the compliance, regulatory, and standard infrastructure sectors of financial technology. “The opportunity here is not to originate fintech for the sake of tech, but to find new and critical business solutions that are enabled by tech. Collectively those solutions are powering a generational change in market infrastructure,” said Beeston.