Sold! 2019 Herald Startup Pitch winners get windfall for fintech product
That was quick.
Within months of winning the fintech vertical in the 2019 Miami Herald Startup Pitch Competition, Miami-based Digital SPV was in talks to be acquired by a leading local law firm.
By November the buyer, Miami-based NEXT Legal, had purchased Digital SPV for an undisclosed sum. It represents one of the swiftest “exits,” or market capitalizations, of any startup to enter the Herald’s competition, which is now in its third decade. Digital SPV was founded in late 2018.
Digital SPV’s pitch was to centralize the demands that come with creating SPVs, or special-purpose vehicles, into one platform. SPVs are corporate entities created by businesses to serve a specific purpose as part of a larger deal.
Herwig Konings, Digital SPV co-founder, said he and his partner, Mario Pazos, began working closely with NEXT Legal not long after the company was created. He said Digital SPV was in the “minimum viable product,” stage with about a dozen beta customers who were also interacting with NEXT Legal at the time of the sale.
NEXT Legal “already had demand...already had the customers, and wanted to take advantage of the platform,” Konings said.
In an email, NEXT Legal partner Jason Stark said the value proposition of Digital SPV was evident to the firm immediately, given that it forms dozens of SPVs each year.
“For example, an investment in a startup or participation in a real estate project. In cases where an investor or syndicate wants to use standard, middle-of-the-road documentation, without much complexity (but with more customization than traditional online providers), Digital SPV offers an easy and cost-efficient solution,” he said.
NEXT Legal says it expects to re-launch Digital SPV by mid-year.
Meanwhile, Konings has already moved on to his next project, Security Token Group, of which he is a founding partner. Security tokens are proprietary digital assets that function similarly to Bitcoin, but which can be used in a wide variety of cases. The group is composed of three units: Security Token Advisors, which helps issuers, investors, and managers leverage digital tokens within their business; Security Token Market, a the leading source of information on security token offerings for the investor community to learn, engage, and participate in security tokens; and Security Token Capital, a venture investing group that partners with entrepreneurs developing security tokens.
Konings says the group has already raised over $1 million dollars in financing, and employs a small team of consultants, developers, and fund managers across its subsidiaries. The company is also on track to break $1 million in revenue this year.
He predicts 2020 will be “the year of the security token.”
