EPFL spin-off LakeDiamond, a global leader in the production of lab-grown diamonds for high-tech industrial applications, has launched an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) to increase its production capacities. Powered by Swissquote, LakeDiamond’s ICO is the first ever to be powered by an established banking group in Switzerland.

LakeDiamond produces, transforms and sells lab-grown diamond as the ultimate material for increasingly complex high-value applications in micro-mechanics and robotics, photonics, electronics, and biotech. Lab-grown diamonds have been described as “the new silicon” due to their unique physicochemical properties, that is, most transparent to light, heat best conductor, eco-friendly, chemically inert, hardest and most elastic material, highest breakdown electric field, and biocompatible.

LakeDiamond's solution addresses a market whose potential is expected to reach CHF 18.4bn by 2022 because ultra-pure lab-grown diamond products can be used across a broad scope of industrial applications, according to the company

Today, LakeDiamond has launched its ICO powered by Swissqote an established Swiss banking group listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange, making it the first ICO to be supported by a bank. As part of the ICO, Swissquote will provide LakeDiamond with a number of services relating to technology, "know your customer" processes and payment services. Additionally, the pre-sale is reserved to Swissquote clients to purchase tokens. Access is granted through the Swissquote LakeDiamond ICO page.



Michael Ploog, Chief Financial Officer of Swissquote, commented: “The launch of the Swissquote ICO offering is a logical step in the development of our blockchain-related services, and complements our cross-asset platform. With its ICO, LakeDiamond, which is developing cutting-edge technology combining lab-grown diamonds and high-end industrial applications, is seeking to accelerate its growth.”

Pascal Gallo, CEO of LakeDiamond, commented: “We are well positioned to become the leading lab-grown diamonds player by leveraging our expertise, products, and know-how to further capture market share in the lab-grown diamonds market, especially as we strengthen our position in micro-mechanics and robotics, and expand into other industrial segments such as photonics, electronics and biotech. Our ICO intends to provide LakeDiamond with the resources needed to accelerate the pace of its development and expand its leadership in lab-grown diamonds”.

LakeDiamond aims to raise 60.5 million Swiss francs in ICO to increase production capacity.To-date; the company grows diamond in its two Micro-Wave Chemical Vapor Deposition (MWCVD) reactors, with a production capacity of 15,000 plates per year. The objective is to add fifty additional MWCVD reactors to meet the production capacity of 300,000 plates per year by 2020.

(Press release/ES)