Ishan Pandey:
Hi DH Kim, welcome to our series “Behind the Startup.” Please tell us about yourself and the story behind FinHaven?
About DH Kim:
Kim was born in Seoul and studied international affairs, law, and political philosophy in the United States. His degree was split into two halves because he returned home midway through his degree to serve in the military. After completing his last two years, he returned to Columbia University in New York to pursue his master’s degree, this time with an emphasis on international affairs. However, as the economy of several Asian nations, including South Korea’s, collapsed in 1997, he was obliged to return home to support his family, and he split his degree into two halves once more.
Defaulted loans, consecutive days of losses for the Korea Stock Exchange, and an emergency loan rescue to keep Kia Motors afloat were all part of the financial crisis in South Korea. Kim’s father’s firm was among those that failed. “As a result of it, I knew I needed to study a lot more about money, business, and accounting,” Kim adds. He changed his major to finance and business as a result. After graduation, he obtained a position at Merrill Lynch, which lasted almost a decade until the company collapsed and was sold to Bank of America due to the 2008 global financial crisis.
While Kim, a prolific entrepreneur, does not own a crypto corporation, he believes in the potential of blockchain—the technology that underpins cryptocurrencies—and is using it to develop Finhaven, a company at the vanguard of the transformation Kim discusses.
The firm just debuted as Canada’s first private securities marketplace to operate in several provincial jurisdictions, securing $7.9 million in seed and Series A investment. The marketplace functions similarly to a stock exchange, except it exclusively trades private securities.
It is an attitude and a vision that took decades to form, and it’s the result of years of experience working in a variety of industries in the United States, South Korea, and now Canada.
Ishan Pandey:
According to you, how can DLT disrupt capital markets?
DH Kim:
As one of the leading players in global FinTech efforts, I view blockchain technology as a glimmer of hope for such a turn of the tide. Simply stated, public capital market innovation aims to improve liquidity availability, and its success is determined by how safely it can provide liquidity to businesses in the primary market and investors in the secondary market. As a result, I think private capital market innovation should aim towards the same objectives.
Blockchain-based solutions can improve liquidity in private capital markets while also extending their usefulness to public markets over time. Without getting into too many technical specifics, I’d want to highlight a few key features of blockchain technology’s functioning in respect to…
Read More: How Blockchain Can Disrupt Private Equity and Capital Markets