The former digital chief of Credit Suisse, Marco Abel, has launched a Blockchain -based investment platform, called Tend, that will allow people to share ownership of "experiential" assets such as artwork or a classic car.
Abel is a Fintech entrepreneur and has good experience with private and investment banking. In his professional career of two decades, he mostly worked with financial institutions including Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank.
As a strategic advisor, Tend has Oliver Bussman. He is a former chief information officer at UBS and a well-known name in the investment bank's blockchain business.
The aim of Tend is to allow like-minded people to invest in particular assets of interest while diversifying their wealth. The platform will provide co-ownership of the asset to the investors using smart contracts. Along with the financial returns, the investors can also enjoy the physical asset.
For instance, if the ownership of a vineyard is shared by a certain group of people, not only can they can share the profits but they also can go and stay in the property.
Marco Abel, founder and CEO of Tend, said: “Many people today are finding that there is more value in experience than ownership and that it is about access to fine things, not just possession of them. At the same time, conventional investments have become uninteresting for the modern generation. That makes meaningful, special assets increasingly desirable and hence valuable. TEND was born out of the opportunities presented by these two trends.”
In reference to Oliver Bussman, Abel said: “I am delighted to have a like-minded digital thought leader of Oliver’s caliber joining TEND. We both share the drive to push the boundaries of what is possible by utilizing blockchain technology, and the TEND team looks forward to working closely together with Oliver as we continue to turn our vision into reality.”
With this venture, Able is targeting the 350 million people globally whose worth is between £100,000 and £1 million. According to Able, this group is often overlooked by the private banks but also underserved by retail banks.
With the Alpha version of the platform ready, Tend is launching a pilot project with the aim to have 100 customers by next spring and 400 by August 2018.
So far, Abel has self-funded the project and is now planning for a token sale aiming to raise £22.5 million.
Abel said: “TEND’s forward-looking philosophy is reflected in our funding strategy. Token generating events are, we are convinced, the future of financing innovative new ventures like ours. We are very happy to be spearheading these developments.”
