Leading ‘Big Four’ consultancy firm Deloitte has made an investment in London-based SETL, which marks the first time that a professional services firm has publicly invested in a blockchain company, CoinDesk reported.

Earlier in July, SETL announced the completion of its first round of private fundraising. Also, Deloitte and SETL recently teamed up to create a blockchain-based contactless card that enables retail payments to be processed and settled instantly.

SETL said that the investment came after a year of collaboration between the two companies. The total amount of investment has not been disclosed yet.

"We have been working with the firm over the past 12 months, and today's announcement demonstrates Deloitte's ongoing commitment to engage with our platform," said CEO Peter Randall, as quoted by CoinDesk. "Together, we have the opportunity to offer a unique blockchain service to a range of financial services companies."

Launched in July 2015, SETL aims to deploy a multi-asset, multi-currency institutional payment and settlements infrastructure based on blockchain technology. The SETL system will enable market participants to move cash and assets directly between each other, facilitating the immediate and final settlement of market transactions.

Deloitte has been partnering with a number of blockchain-based startups in the past couple of months. Earlier this year, at CoinDesk's Consensus 2016 conference in New York, the consultancy giant announced that it is working with five prominent blockchain companies – BlockCypher, Bloq, ConsenSys, Loyyal (formerly known as Ribbit.me) and the Stellar Development Foundation – to provide new technological capabilities to its global financial institution client base.

"Blockchain has the ability to transform the industry, and we have been investing heavily in real-world applications, such as identity management, cross-border payments, loyalty, trade finance and a number of others”, David Myers, head of capital markets for Deloitte, said. “By harnessing the capabilities of SETL's blockchain, we can provide our clients with even more practical and transformational solutions”.