According to latest reports, 11:FS, a new fintech consultancy, is seeking to raise $50 million fund to invest in startups bringing blockchain technology to banking.

Business Insider UK reported that 11:FS has started "Banking on Blockchain" fund with $5 million of seed funding from Life.SREDA, a growth-stage fintech VC fund based in Singapore, and plans to raise at least $50 million from other VCs, banks, consultancies, and technology firms by the end of the year. It hopes to raise $100 million by the end of 2017.

Financial News reported that David Brear, a former director of digital banking and IT research at advisory firm Gartner, will be a lead partner in the fund. He announced last month that he was joining forces with Jason Bates, a co-founder of UK digital challenger bank Mondo, to set up a fintech consultancy involved with a blockchain fund. Former executive at German digital bank Fidor Bank Thomas Labenbacher will be managing director of the fund.

The fund will be based in London and invest in blockchain startups across Europe, who aim at implementing the technology in the banking sector. Banks world over are increasingly taking interest in blockchain technology as they are keen to create a similar network that can transform settlement and international payments.

"A lot of people have interests in this but there are a lot of banks that are spending a lot of money without really knowing that they're doing. Nobody really has the answer. Most suppliers are only one or two steps ahead of clients”, David M. Brear, cofounder of 11FS, told Business Insider.

11FS aims to plug this knowledge gap and will provide not only consultancy services but also a database of industry benchmarks on digital transformation and intends on investing alongside banks and other interested parties through its fund.

Brear says there is a lot of interest in its new fund, saying: "We've been inundated with people getting in touch. It really has caught people's imagination.” He said that there are "10 use cases ready to start making an impact", adding "Retail gets a lot of attention but with blockchain trade finance and asset management are huge opportunities."