Fintech
VersiFi acquires Ather Digital – Fintech Finance
VersiFi, the digital asset trading and lending company, acquires Ather Digital for an undisclosed amount. The agreement, concluded in May, is strengthened VersiFi suite of trading technologies including direct market access (DMA), algorithmic trading and intelligent order routing (SOR).
Ather Digital has been spun off Many capital partners (“Manifold”), a systematic quantitative investment firm, in 2022. Its technology was developed in collaboration with Manifold and other HFT hedge funds specifically to meet their digital asset trading needs and will be integrated into the trading platform and VersiFi loan. Manifold and other major investors will now be minority shareholders of VersiFi.
“This acquisition accelerates our product strategy and gives us a full suite of trading solutions sooner than expected,” said Sameer Shalaby, founder and co-CEO of VersiFi. “Built with the needs of quantitative investment managers in mind, Ather’s technology features exceptional performance, efficiency and interoperability characteristics that can translate into significant cost savings for clients. We are pleased to welcome the Ather team to VersiFi and together bring these capabilities to market.”
Additionally, Ather Digital’s developer team and Abu Dhabi office are now part of VersiFi, and founder and chief technology officer, Sidharth Sankhe, has taken on the role of head of Quant Trading Technologies as part of the executive leadership team by VersiFi. VersiFi also plans to increase its presence in the UAE.
“We are thrilled to support such a powerful and proven team. VersiFi is perfectly equipped to make Ather’s vision a reality,” said Jae Chung, founder and CEO of Manifold Capital Partners. “With so many ways to collaborate, Manifold will provide maximum support to VersiFi as they continue to grow.”
“We, along with Ather’s other institutional investors, are excited to partner with VersiFi’s leadership team to continue our efforts in bringing Ather’s technology to market,” said Richard Blankenship, founder and general partner of Dream Ventures. “VersiFi’s vision is complementary to Ather’s – and ours – and we are confident that their combined technology and teams will create a highly differentiated industry offering.”