Aurum Equity Partners has launched a $1 billion combined equity and debt tokenized fund for investment in data centers.

The fund will use Zoniqx's asset tokenization solutions and will use the XRP Ledger (XRPL), an open-source and decentralized Layer 1 blockchain for real-world asset (RWA) tokenization.

Zoniqx
Sanjeev Birari, cofounder of Zoniqx, and Venkat Bussa CEO at AEP – Zoniqx via LinkedIn

Zoniqx is a fintech company located in Silicon Valley and specializing in converting RWAs into security tokens.

Tokenization is the process of creating a digital representation of a real thing, in this case, it will see the fund converting into digital tokens on a blockchain.

The fund will be used to develop data centers in the US, UAE, Saudi Arabia, India, and Europe.

The fund will use Zoniqx's Tokenized Asset Lifecycle Management (TALM) solution and the Dynamic Compliant Interoperable Security Token (DyCIST) protocol.

This is intended to make the trading of tokenized assets on secondary markets more efficient and give investors improved liquidity options, and enable Aurum to expand its investor base.

“We are excited to work with Zoniqx to bring this groundbreaking project to life,” said Venkat Bussa, CEO and chairman, general partner at Aurum Equity Partners. “This development aligns with our commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technology to enhance liquidity, transparency, and overall investment efficiency for our investors.”

Prasanth Kalangi, founder and CEO of Zoniqx, added, “Working with Aurum Equity Partners on this innovative project is a significant milestone in our mission to advance asset tokenization. Our technology is designed to meet the evolving needs of the financial industry, and we are excited to demonstrate its potential in the private equity space.”

Aurum Equity Partners is an Indian investment banking firm that was founded in 2022.

In May last year, the firm launched its $250 million global private equity fund plan, closing Q1 2024. At the time, the company said it planned on investing $50m for a data center build in Hyderabad.

Earlier this year, Aurum Equity Partners invested $400m in a 100MW data center in Hyderabad, India.

The company signed an MoU for a data center project in Saudi Arabia with Nowais Group in October 2023.