Lithuanian capital markets infrastructure provider Axiology has secured €5 million in seed funding to expand its regulated, blockchain-based platform for issuing, trading, and settling securities across Europe. The investment will support the rollout of new tokenised securities capabilities under the EU DLT Pilot Regime and accelerate the company’s go-to-market strategy.

The funding round was led by Exponential Science, e2vc, and Coinvest Capital, with participation from TIBAS Ventures and Plug and Play. Existing investors, including BSV Ventures, NGL Ventures, and others, also joined the round. To date, Axiology has raised €7 million in total.

Axiology participated in the fifth batch of the Startup Lithuania Accelerator powered by Plug and Play, where the team further refined its positioning and market-entry strategy. According to Povilas Žinys, Director of Plug and Play Lithuania, this marks the largest investment round in Plug and Play Lithuania’s history.

“Axiology stands out as a prime example of how Lithuania’s innovation ecosystem can contribute to Europe-wide transformation. By combining regulatory depth with cutting-edge DLT technology, they’re not just solving a local challenge — they’re paving the way for a unified, accessible European capital market. This seed round reflects growing confidence in Lithuania as a hub for regulated fintech innovation, and we at Plug and Play are proud to support their journey from acceleration to expansion.”

Axiology’s journey is now moving beyond the region, with the team also selected for the Global Overseas Acceleration & Learning (GOAL) Silicon Valley programme — an international growth track within the Startup Lithuania Accelerator powered by Plug and Play, delivered at Silicon Valley headquarters. “Axiology shows how our startups can build solutions with real relevance beyond our market. We’re happy to see their progress after the Startup Lithuania Accelerator — and especially proud to see them taking the next step through GOAL Silicon Valley. In the US, the team will take part in focused sessions with mentors, meet potential corporate partners and investors, and test their commercial strategy in a truly global environment,” says Karolina Urbonaitė, Head of Startup Lithuania.

Unifying Europe’s Fragmented Capital Markets

Axiology is building regulated infrastructure to address one of Europe’s longstanding challenges: fragmented capital markets. The company holds a rare Distributed Ledger Technology Trading and Settlement System (DLT TSS) licence, one of the most comprehensive licences available under the EU DLT Pilot Regime. Only a handful of entities in Europe have been granted this status.

The licence enables Axiology to consolidate issuance, custody, trading, and settlement of securities within a single regulated system — significantly reducing complexity and costs for market participants.

“Europe’s Savings and Investment Union won’t be built by policy alone — it needs new market infrastructure,” says Marius Jurgilas, Founder and CEO of Axiology. “The DLT Pilot Regime finally gives us the legal space to do that. Our system is already live, and this funding allows us to scale a unified, regulated platform for European capital markets.”

Expanding Access to Digital Securities

Axiology’s platform is designed to improve accessibility to traditionally hard-to-reach financial instruments, such as government bonds. While European retail investors can easily invest small amounts into ETFs, access to government bonds remains limited due to legacy infrastructure rather than technological constraints.

By enabling the issuance and trading of digital bonds in smaller denominations within a regulated environment, Axiology aims to make these instruments accessible to a broader investor base.

“Europe’s capital markets are undergoing a structural shift,” notes Jochen Metzger, Board Member of Axiology and former Bundesbank Senior Official. “Axiology is one of the few platforms able to operate every stage of the securities lifecycle within a single regulated system — a crucial step toward reducing fragmentation across Europe.”

Supporting National and Cross-Border Initiatives

Axiology is currently working with the Lithuanian Ministry of Finance on a digital-native version of Lithuania’s Government Defence Bonds. Today, these bonds are distributed through local financial institutions, limiting access. Issuing them digitally through Axiology’s infrastructure could make them available across the entire European Economic Area, including to the Lithuanian diaspora.

Founded in September 2025, Axiology has already launched three core services:

• a securities depository,
• shareholder registry management, and
• a Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF).
  
  

The shareholder registry service is live across Lithuania, with over €21 million in shares already recorded, while the depository services are used by crowdfunding platforms to structure debt instruments as bonds. The newly launched MTF integrates trading and settlement within the same regulated system, with brokers connected from day one.

Regulated DLT Infrastructure Across Europe

Participation in the Startup Lithuania Accelerator powered by Plug and Play marked an important milestone for Axiology. The program provided access to global financial infrastructure expertise, regulatory mentorship, and international networks, helping the team further refine its positioning and market-entry strategy under the EU DLT Pilot Regime.

Built for institutional clients, Axiology operates on a private, permissioned DLT network designed to ensure regulatory compliance, transaction finality, and auditability. The platform leverages European stablecoins licensed for atomic settlement, enabling near-instant execution compared to traditional T+2 settlement cycles.

“With this investment, we are backing a team that is rebuilding capital markets infrastructure to be faster, more efficient, and more inclusive,” says Dr Paolo Tasca, Founder of Exponential Science.

The newly secured funding will support Axiology’s international expansion, institutional partnerships, and interoperability initiatives. The company is also preparing to participate in wholesale CBDC projects, including the ECB’s Appia and Pontes initiatives, and plans to connect with TARGET2 to further streamline settlement processes.

About Axiology

Axiology provides integrated capital markets infrastructure enabling the issuance, safekeeping, trading, and settlement of securities within a single regulated system. Operating as a cross-border securities depository across the EEA, the company is helping reduce fragmentation in Europe’s capital markets and lower reliance on intermediaries through compliant distributed ledger technology.